Bulgarophiles (; Serbian and , ''bugarofili'' or ''bugaraši''; ; ) is a

pejorative A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hosti ...

term used for

Slavic people The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and N ...

from the regions of

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

and Pomoravlje who identify as ethnic

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

. In Bulgaria, the term Bulgaromans; (; ) refers to non-Slavic people such as

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

with a Bulgarian self-awareness. During the 19th and early 20th century the Bulgarian national identification arose as a result of an intense propaganda campaign and the affiliation with the

Bulgarian millet Bulgarian millet () was an ethnoreligious group, ethno-religious and speech community, linguistic community within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-19th to early 20th century. The semi-official term, was used by the Sultan for the first time in ...

and

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate (; ) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953. The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) ...

. In the 20th century, Bulgarophiles in neighboring

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

were considered enemies of the state harboring

irredentist Irredentism () is one state's desire to annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the population of the parent state. Hist ...

tendencies. Critics of the view that the Macedonian nation has existed for a long time and that it has no relation with the Bulgarian nation get accused of being Bulgarophiles in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. In the context of North Macedonia, the term also means feeling a close ethnic relation with Bulgarians or being of Bulgarian origin.

References

Macedonian Bulgarians Anti-Bulgarian sentiment Pejorative terms for European people {{Romania-stub

See also

References