Bilateral relations exist between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Both countries are members of the Council of Europe and NATO. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, while North Macedonia has been an official candidate to join the EU since 2005. While Bulgaria had been the first country to recognize the independence of its neighbour in 1992 and both states signed a friendship treaty in 2017, North Macedonia and Bulgaria still have complicated neighborly relations: the Bulgarian factor is known in Macedonian politics as "B-complex".Kyril Drezov, Bulgaria and Macedonia: Voluntary Dependence on External Actors in Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe Volume 2: International and Transnational Factors with Jan Zielonka and Alex Pravda as ed., Oxford University Press, 2001; , pp. 413-414. European politics have been adding to the complexity of constellations.
In 2020, Bulgaria offered a compromise and agreed to recognize the Macedonian language and national identity if North Macedonia would recognize both nations and languages have common historical roots. This proposal was rejected by North Macedonia as threatening. The acknowledgement of Bulgarian influence on Macedonian history is highly problematic for many Macedonians, because it clashes with the post-WWII Yugoslav Macedonian nation-building narrative, which was based on a deeply anti-Bulgarian stance. Another revisionist strand of Macedonian historiography is that their national history had already been taken earlier by the Bulgarian national historiography.Paul Reef, Macedonian Monument Culture Beyond 'Skopje 2014'. From the journal Comparative Southeast European Studies. https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2018-0037 The resurgence of Bulgarian irredentism due to the deepening of chauvinism and national historical myths in post-Communist Bulgaria has awarded Macedonia a sacred place in Bulgarian nationalism, as Bulgarians are frustrated with the existence of a Macedonian nation, which they consider "artificial", and of a Macedonian language, which they consider a dialect of Bulgarian.
After the Mickoski government came to power in 2024, North Macedonia's relations with Bulgaria deteriorated to the point that in July 2026, the President of North Macedonia, Siljanovska, described them as if they were severed.Македонската президентка: Oтношенията между Скопие и София са толкова влошени, че сякаш са прекъснати. Медиапул, 17 юли 2026 г.
History
Background On January 15, 1992, Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of the then-Republic of Macedonia.Republic of Macedonia, bilateral cooperation. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, official website, September 10, 2011. Bulgaria has however refused to recognize the existence of a separate ethnic Macedonian nationNegotiating Diplomacy in the New Europe: Foreign Policy in Post-Communist Bulgaria, Author Stefanos Katsikas, Publisher I.B.Tauris, 2012, , p. 163.Who are the Macedonians? Author Hugh Poulton, Publisher C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, , p. 214.Atlas of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century, Authors Richard Crampton, Benjamin Crampton, Publisher Routledge, 2016, , p. 233. and a separate Macedonian language. It argues that ethnic Macedonians are a subgroup of the Bulgarian nation,Aspen Institute Prague, 1/2016, Between Skopje and Sofia, Jan Muś. The agreement on Good Neighborly Relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia faces serious difficulties related to the crucial issue of nationality.The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe, Author T. Kamusella, Contributor Peter Burke, Publisher Springer, 2008, , p. 253.Macedonia, Bradt Travel Guide, Authors Thammy Evans, Rudolf Abraham, 2015, , p. 42. and that the Macedonian language is a Bulgarian dialect.Encyclopædia Britannica-online, Bulgaria, transition period, Loring Danforth.The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination, Macedonia, Author: Jenny Engstrom. This leads to some complications when signing treaties between the two countries. Such treaties are signed with this long phrase at the end: "done in the official languages of the two states—the Bulgarian language, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, and the Macedonian language, according to the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia".Agreement of free trade between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria , Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, Retrieved on 2012-02-29. North Macedonia has developed its relations with Bulgaria in the political, economic, and military spheres. The governments of the two countries have worked to improve business relations. A landlocked Macedonia relied heavily on Greek ports like Thessaloniki. When Greece imposed a major trade embargo and port blockade in 1994-1995, Macedonia circumvented the embargo by importing vital supplies through Bulgaria's Black Sea ports. The rules governing good neighbourly relations agreed between Bulgaria and North Macedonia were set in the Joint Declaration of February 22, 1999 reaffirmed by a joint memorandum signed on January 22, 2008, in Sofia.Bulgarian Policies on the Republic of Macedonia: Recommendations on the development of good neighbourly relations following Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and in the context of NATO and EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. Sofia: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2008. 80 pp. (Trilingual publication in Bulgarian, Macedonian and English) In 1999 and 2001, Bulgaria provided 94 T-55 tanks and various heavy mortars, munitions and firearm to North Macedonia. These aided in defending the country's sovereignty during a domestic Albanian insurgency.
On the other hand, according to political scientist Mirjana Maleska, while in SR Macedonia, the Bulgarophobia almost reached the level of state ideology, creating negative stereotypes for Bulgaria and its people, and continued after the fall of the communism with less intensity. These sentiments come partly from tragic historical events that Macedonians suffered caused by Bulgarian nationalists and chauvinists, but primarily results from the need to distinguish the Macedonian nation and state from Bulgaria.Mirjana Maleska. Editor-in-chief. WITH THE EYES OF THE "OTHERS". (about Macedonian-Bulgarian relations and the Macedonian national identity). New Balkan Politics - Journal of Politics. ISSUE 6 As a result, Skopje treats as "ethnic Macedonians" a number of figures from Bulgarian history from the region during the period from the 9th century to the end of the Second World War. Reacting to the publication of a controversial encyclopedia by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) in 2009, Bulgaria warned that "it is unacceptable for a country aspirant for NATO and EU membership to resort to terminology typical for the ideology of the Cold War era," and that the encyclopedia "gives no contribution to the strengthening of the neighborly relations and curbing down of 'hate speech'."Bulgaria joins growing criticism of Macedonian Encyclopedia. Independent News Agency Makfax, September 24, 2009.Kosovo Slams Macedonia Over Encyclopaedia. BalkanInsight.com, September 22, 2009.Macedonian Encyclopaedia To Be Changed. Eurasia Press and News, September 24, 2009.FYRMacedonia: "Macedonian Encyclopedia" withdrawn . EMportal, September 26, 2009.Macedonia embroiled in encyclopaedia row . Euractiv, October 13, 2009. In connection with the administrative, police and other types of pressure allegedly being exercised on citizens of Bulgaria and citizens of North Macedonia with Bulgarian self-identification in North Macedonia, on August 4, 2009, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry declared that "Bulgaria will examine the approach of the Macedonian side in such cases as one of the criteria on the basis of which to assess the country's readiness to make the changes that would allow the European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia."Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Official website, August 4, 2009. Bulgaria has proposed to sign a treaty (based on that 1999 Joint Declaration) guaranteeing the good neighbourly relations between the two countries, in order to enable Bulgarian support for the accession of North Macedonia to the European Union.Bulgaria's Position Concerning Macedonia Unchanged – Kalfin. The Sofia Echo, July 31, 2006.Bulgaria Treaty Proposal Called 'Indecent'. BalkanInsight, March 17, 2010. Thousands of citizens of North Macedonia have applied for Bulgarian citizenship, with more than 100,000 having already received Bulgarian passports. In order to obtain the passport, the citizens of North Macedonia who apply for Bulgarian citizenship must prove that they have Bulgarian origins and a Bulgarian national consciousness. Between January 1 to November 18, 2011, the Bulgarian Council for citizenship considered 22,241 applications for citizenship, of which 13,607 were approved., Утрински весник, December 22, 2011Македонци на брза лента за бугарски пасош, Утрински весник, December 23, 2011Macedonia Suffers from 'Bulgarian Citizenship Syndrome', Sofia News Agency However, the majority of applicants are motivated primarily by economic opportunities rather than Bulgarian ethnic identity, often declaring origin based on false statements or falsified certificates of Bulgarian origin.
Friendship treaty and beyond