A YouTuber from Germany with heritage from the country known today as "North Macedonia", has uploaded a new video that he said is a "very controversial topic" and that he was "contemplating if I should discuss it at all."
The topic?
The reclamation of his Bulgarian identity and renouncement of a Macedonian one.
The YouTuber Bobby's Perspectives has just under 100,000 subscribers and a total of 4.65 million views.
At the beginning of the video he said this is "for my Balkan brothers and sisters. For my Bulgarian brothers and sisters. For my Greek brothers and sisters. For my Serbian brothers and sisters. But more importantly... most importantly actually, this video is for my 'North Macedonian' brothers and sisters,” using hand signals to invert comas to North Macedonia.
The YouTuber, speaking in a very thick typical German accent, explained that his followers know him to identify as a Macedonian-Slav but that he was not overly patriotic because he was raised in Germany. He emphasised that he is a truth seeker, and this is reflected in his videos about diet and religion.
However, in his quest for truth seeking, it took him down a road that surely he would have never expected... His very own identity.
"I did my research, objectively. I investigated the Greek side. I investigated the Bulgarian side. I investigated the rest of the world. I investigated the Osman [Ottoman] archives, the Turkish archives. I investigated the 'Macedonian' claims'," the YouTuber said, who went on to say that Slavs first arrived in the Balkans 900 years after Alexander the Great’s death.
The next part of the video would have taken many people by surprise.
"I am talking from the heart, I’m talking to my fellow 'North Macedonians', and even I cannot accept that name any longer," as the camera zooms into his fingers doing inverted comas.
The reason why he no longer accepts the name Macedonian?
"Because Macedonia was Greece, and it is well established and historical truth – as simple as that. We are not the descendants of Alexander, we are Slavs,” he emphasised.
The YouTuber then explains that many historical figures, such as Tsar Samuil the Bulgarian and Gotse Delchev, are claimed as Macedonian, but are in actual fact Bulgarian - just in case Tsar Samuil "the Bulgarian" was not obvious enough. In fact, Byzantine Emperor Basil II had the nickname "the Bulgar Slayer" as Tsar Samuil the Bulgarian was his greatest adversary,
He then references Ottoman records that noted in the geographic region of Macedonia there were many ethnic groups, including Greeks, Bulgarians and Jews, but never a separate Macedonian ethnicity listed.
The YouTuber explained that Josip Broz Tito, the communist dictator of Yugoslavia, was against Bulgarian identity in the region of Macedonia and started the propaganda, killing those who continued to identify as Bulgarian.
"My great-grandfather was haunted by the Serbs for saying he was Bulgarian," he said.
He also explained that the Yugoslavs were afraid that over 1 million Bulgarians would identify with Bulgaria which was not a part of the Yugoslavian Republic, "so Tito gave them the idea they were descendants of the Ancient Macedonians mixed with Slavs."
Then he questioned who "we are as a people."
"Guys, it is plain and simple, we are Bulgarians. Simple as that," he said, continuing "and guys, this message comes from the heart."
He urged the people of "North Macedonia" that they have to realise who they are and to reclaim their Bulgarian heritage and national identity.
“We’ve been fed communist lies. How long do you want to live with this lie? How long do you want to live with this lie, with this scam? We are not the Macedons. We are not the Macedonians. We are the Bulgarians," he urged. "Think about it brothers and sisters. I beg you, please. Think about it logically."
"The whole world knows it. Please wake up. You are the laughing stock of the Balkans with no identity. You are still following the dead leader that brainwashed you. Tito is dead. That ideology has died. We are Bulgarians! Once you side with your brothers, the Bulgarians, you will reclaim a heritage that is so rich, so old," he emphasised.
Watch the entirety of the video and his explanations in full.
[su_youtube_advanced url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heECxVf7nxI&feature=emb_title" width="300" height="200" theme="light" title="AM I REALLY MACEDONIAN ? | TRUTH ABOUT NORTH MACEDONIA | GREEK , BULGARIAN ?"]In one of his responses to a comment on his YouTube video, he said "I will continue with this topic," and even revealed that he wants "to get politically involved. This debate has to be held now in these times (before "North Macedonia" enters the EU) it is time to decondition the Yugoslav Brainwashing and reclaim our heritage."
The YouTuber said in another comment "I will fight to turn the ship around. From now onwards I see it my responsibility to share the truth as an Ex-'Macedonian'. We are Bulgarians and our history is the SAME."
He also revealed in another comment that he wants to see "North Macedonia" one day unify with Bulgaria.
"We will see what the 'Macedonians' want. They are clinging to Greek mythology too," he continued.
The question of identity has been intensifying in "North Macedonia" in recent weeks.
The first ever Foreign Affairs Minister of the Former Yugoslavia Republic of “Macedonia” after the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Denko Maleski, said just weeks earlier that "We are past the time when Macedonian history was protected by the powerful Yugoslav federation and could, without pressure, selectively choose the building blocks of the Macedonian nation, and could cross out the mentions of ‘Bulgarian’ and write ‘Macedonian’ instead," as reported by Greek City Times.
Also reported by Greek City Times, Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, said two weeks ago that "There are so many documents. The [Macedonian] language was written in 1945 and based on the Western Bulgarian dialect. They only changed some grammar, added a few words from another neighbouring language."
