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North Macedonia plans to request an explanation from the office of Bulgaria’s President, Rumen Radev, following a photo from his meeting with Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova on Friday. The photo, taken at the presidency in Sofia, shows the Bulgarian and EU flags, but notably absent is the national flag of North Macedonia. This omission has sparked numerous comments in North Macedonia.
In response to a question from mkd.mk, Siljanovska's office explained that her visit was inspired by the Sofia Opera and Ballet’s performance of "Valkyrie" in Skopje. She had promised to attend a performance of "Nabucco" in Sofia as part of her belief in cultural diplomacy. A private meeting with Radev, along with a joint visit to the opera, was organized. However, the tragic plane crash that occurred earlier in the day prevented President Radev and his wife from attending the event, and they later issued an apology.
Siljanovska's office emphasized that the meeting deviated from the agreed protocol, which stipulated no photos should be taken indoors. Despite this, Radev invited Siljanovska for a photo in front of the Bulgarian flag. Her office expressed the hope that this was an unintentional protocol oversight and stated that they would seek an explanation from the Bulgarian side.
In North Macedonia, the absence of the national flag in the photo led to sharp criticism. The SDSM party labeled Siljanovska's visit a "diplomatic failure," while TV Telma cited diplomats who viewed the incident as "disrespectful and humiliating." Critics pointed out that standard diplomatic protocol requires the display of the guest country’s flag, regardless of whether the visit is official or informal. Some argued that Siljanovska’s team should have verified the conditions beforehand and raised concerns about the flag’s absence.
The Bulgarian presidency distanced itself from the visit, with President Radev clarifying on Facebook that he never cancels meetings with visiting foreign presidents. This, in turn, led to comments from former diplomats, such as Dragan Yanyatov, who suggested that the omission of the flag was a slight against Siljanovska.
Former North Macedonian ambassador Nano Ruzhin downplayed the incident, noting that it is not uncommon for flags to be omitted at informal meetings, and highlighted the importance of the meeting’s content over protocol. However, other critics, including former ambassador Georgi Spasov, described the visit as poorly executed from a diplomatic perspective, viewing it as an improvised and informal engagement rather than a formal diplomatic encounter.
While the political aspects of the visit were criticized, the cultural aspect, particularly the performance of "Nabucco" by the National Opera and Ballet of North Macedonia, received praise, including positive feedback from Bulgarian citizens.
Opposition leader Venko Filipce of the SDSM took to Facebook, calling the absence of the Macedonian flag an "unprecedented trampling and humiliation of the dignity of the Macedonian state and its citizens." He also criticized the Foreign Minister and other officials present for not reacting to the situation.
An unnamed source from Bulgaria's presidency told OFFNews meda that the visit was cultural, not a formal state visit, and thus the usual diplomatic protocols, such as the display of national flags, were not applicable. On the same day, Radev’s absence from the "Nabucco" performance was due to the tragic accident that claimed the lives of two pilots near Graf Ignatievo. Siljanovska attended the performance alone, with Radev offering apologies for the missed engagement.
Sharp criticism came from the former North Macedonia ambassador to Bulgaria, Georgi Spasov, who defined the visit as an improvisation in international relations. "Since she invited herself with the intention of showing that she was doing 'cultural diplomacy', i.e. that she was doing something in terms of good neighborly relations, she was welcomed as a private person who came for coffee in Radev's office, so the hosts they rightly judged that they should not treat her as a statesman from another country and plant the flag of that country," he wrote on Facebook.
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