Skopje, 4 May 2026 (MIA) - The duty to interpret history lies in historians who speak on the basis of facts and proof and that is why the debate on history should be left to the historians. We need to work on defending what is most essential for us – the roots of our identity and our language. It is not the work of politicians to meddle in the results that the history commission will achieve, but it is very important that politics does not influence the commission, and to trust the people in that commission to work on the basis of scientific evidence and facts when making any conclusions, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski said Monday.

At a panel discussion titled "The Foundation of Statehood: A Vision for the Future" held in the Government on occasion of the 123rd anniversary of Goce Delchev’s death, the Foreign Minister said the challenge ahead of the country is not whether it will defend its history or not, but how it will communicate and whether it will allow for history to be relativized.  

“There is constant talk about the subject of shared history. I am personally convinced that as a region we probably do have some kind of shared history, but we have different memories and views about what was happening on this territory. It is important that we respect the right of others to see things differently, but the danger is that some countries are trying to impose on our country how it should see and interpret its own national history,” Mucunski said.

Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska highlighted the importance of internal consolidation over the national interests if the country wants to deal with negative external influences.

“Before dealing with negative external influences, we need to consolidate internally and deal with the negative internal influences that undermine the values we are fighting for. I am referring to a statement made by a professor recently who mentioned that Goce Delchev is a myth. Goce Delchev is not a myth, there is historical evidence about his actions, about his goal for an autonomous Macedonia. Therefore, to be able to defend ourselves against external influences, we must be monolithic internally. I hope that very soon the time will come when we realize that we mustn’t undermine our own foundations. We can differ on many things, but we mustn’t differ on the issue of safeguarding our national identity,” Janevska said.

Photo: Screenshot