In coordination with the competent Bulgarian institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) will continue to monitor the issue of access to the archives of the Bulgarian Exarchate in the Republic of Northern Macedonia (RSM) with increased attention, including in view of its importance in the overall context of Bulgarian protection. national interest in relations with Northern Macedonia.

This was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodora Genchovska

Teodora Genchovska graduated in Contemporary History at Sofia University "St. Clement" during the parliamentary control in response to a question from GERB MP Radomir Cholakov to ensure free access of Bulgarian citizens to the church registers of churches in the diocese of the Bulgarian Exarchate, located on the territory of today's PCM. 

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Relations Bulgaria - RS Macedonia 365

Minister Genchovska pointed out that at the moment the website of the State Archives (SA) of the RSM states that church funds of the Bulgarian Exarchate are stored in the headquarters of the DA of the RSM, section "Archive Network" - Central Department.

It is also pointed out that the archives of the Orthodox Church are kept in the DA departments in Skopje, Ohrid, Prilep, Tetovo, Shtip. 

Genchovska said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have information whether all the archival funds listed on the website of the DA of RSM are original or some of them are copies provided by the Bulgarian Archives - State Agency "Archives", which also stores archival funds of the Bulgarian Exarchate. the territory of today's RSM, which were transferred to Bulgaria in the period 1918-1944. Archival units were transferred to Belgrade by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which had long-term ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the territory of today's RSM, the minister said.

Teodora Genchovska

Teodora Genchovska graduated in Contemporary History at Sofia University. St. Kliment noted that, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a number of RSM citizens keep documents for births, deaths, church marriages issued by the Bulgarian Exarchate to their parents and relatives.

She added that such documents are submitted in the original when applying for Bulgarian citizenship in their capacity as certificates of Bulgarian origin in accordance with the provisions of our legislation.

The Minister said that the competent Bulgarian state institutions, which should have more specific information on the issue, are the State Archives Agency and the Ministry of Culture.

She presented a response from the State Archives Agency, received after an inquiry from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It states that the documents from the activities of the Bulgarian Exarchate on the territory of today's RSM are preserved in the archives of the Central State Archives for the period 1870-1953, containing 4712 archival units, whose inventories are publicly available, as in the reading rooms of archive and online.

Some of these documents are the so-called

parish registers, which are used to prove Bulgarian origin.

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In the answer from our state archives they also point out that the issue of ensuring free access of Bulgarian citizens to church registers of churches and dioceses of the Bulgarian Exarchate, located on the territory of today's RSM, is not specifically addressed in the cooperation agreement between state archives of both countries.

It is also noted that in the Bulgarian archives there is no copy of church registers from the archives stored in the RSM.

At the same time, on the basis of the general provisions of the contract for reciprocal exchange of copies of documents from the years before, the Central State Archives of the RSM received 52,665 copies of various exarchate documents from the period 1890-1920.

MP Radomir Cholakov said that since the contract of the State Archives Agency with the Macedonian archives does not contain a regulation on access to exarchate registers, based on a text from the Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, according to which the two countries provide assistance between authorities, Bulgaria may require this from the PCM, writes BTA. 

Relations Bulgaria - RS Macedonia

Teodora Genchovska