Skopje, 28 July 2022 (MIA) – Dragi Gjorgiev, co-chair of the Macedonian-Bulgarian joint commission on historical and educational issues, is an optimist that agreement over the World War II period would be reached swiftly, expecting however fierce debate between the countries’ historians on the period by the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. “I fear that the end of the 19thand beginning of the 20th century will be very problematic. The WWII period is very clear, we have nothing to debate on. There are documents in the Bulgarian archives, documents showing that the Bulgarian government prepared to occupy Macedonia. In all honesty, I don’t expect much of a debate and delays here, because there are tons of documents over our struggle during WWII and the ideas that Macedonians had fought for. I am rather optimistic that we can easily come to an agreement in this part,” Gjorgiev told Telma TV. According to him, attacks and statements by fellow historians from the country have brought about an unpleasant atmosphere regarding the commission’s work and among the public. “These colleagues have never come to ask what the commission is discussing, what are our intentions and ideas about the recommendations. They usually comment statements coming from Bulgarian politicians. If someone in Bulgaria says ‘this is the absolute truth’, they take it as the basis for their writing,” says Gjorgiev. Such is the case, he adds, with the bilateral protocol. “Phrase ‘both sides’ is used on twenty occasions when referring to the work of the history commission, which means there is 99-percent reciprocity in the commission’s work,” notes Gjorgiev.