ПОНЯТИЕТО „ЗАПАДНИ БАЛКАНИ“ МЕЖДУ ИСТОРИЯ И ГЕОПОЛИТИКА*
Георги Н. Георгиев**
THE CONCEPT OF „WESTERN BALKANS“ BETWEEN HISTORY AND GEOPOLITICS
Georgi N. Georgiev
The study is based on a conceptual diplomatic document from the archives of Austria-Hungary. It is an extensive report from the Prizren Consul Friedrich Lipich to the Foreign Minister Count Andrássy, sent in connection with the separation of the Kosovo Vilayet from the Ottoman Empire and the upcoming military outcome of the Bulgarian national question within the complex Eastern Question.
Although dated March 17, 1877, with its messages the document sounds relevant even today, especially as regards the problem of the Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage in the Western Balkans. It could quite definitely be said that the authentic, original matrix of the „Western Balkans“ is visible in Lipich‘s report.
The projections outlined by Lipich almost a century and a half ago were carried out not only by the former Austria-Hungary, but by every Great Power, both from the West and from the East, whose interests at one time or another became leading in the Balkans, within a corresponding international order and status quo.
Nowadays, the „optimal“ version of these projections in Macedonia and in the Western Balkans space in general is that there are no Bulgarians, or if there are, they should be as few and as inconspicuous as possible. Such a fate – cultural, historical, and even physical – of the Macedonian (Western) Bulgarians was being prepared and it continues to be prepared and fulfilled. In some places it has succeeded, in some – not yet, in others – to a large extent. * Изследването е осъществено в рамките на проект към Фонд „Научни изследвания“ – Министерство на образованието и науката (Договор № КП-06-Н30/5 от 13 дек. 2018 г.) „Българите в Западните Балкани (100 години преди и след Ньой)“.
** Георги Н. Георгиев – доц. д-р, Институт за исторически изследвания при Българска академия на науките.
Георгиев, Г. Понятието „Западни Балкани“ между история и геополитика. – В: Българите в Западните Балкани (100 години преди и след Ньой). Сборник с доклади от научна конференция (9 ноември 2020 г.) и национална кръгла маса (20 ноември 2022 г.), проведени в София. С., 2023, Издание на Института за исторически изследвания при Българска академия на науките, с. 65–75. ISBN 978-954-2903-76-5.
