The Macedonian Issue and Bulgaria, through the eyes of Hungarian Diplomats

Hungarian diplomatic papers from the early 1920s cover certain problems of the then- already split Bulgarian liberation movement in Macedonia. Hungarian representatives in Sofia considered the VMRO leadership capable of declaring a general uprising, all the more so since before Stamboliyski’s coming to power the Autonomist wing was financially supported by the Bulgarian government, and since 1919 also the Italian one. 

A key accent falls on the parallel government established in Pirin Macedonia by Тodor Alkesandrov and Aleksandar Protogerov. Collaboration and links between the two wings of the Macedonian movement fit Hungary’s anti-Serbian strategy. Tension between Bulgaria and the Triune Kingdom continued centring mainly on the Macedonian Question, while Macedonian activists continued to exercise a strong influence in Bulgaria, their base for actions against the Serbian authorities in Vardar Macedonia. 

The Nis Agreement of 23 March 1923 saw Sofia and Belgrade settle to eliminate the irregular Chetas, additionally complicating relations between the activists on the one hand and between the Organisation and the government on the other.