CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2026
| Author | Nikolovski, Ivan |
|---|---|
| Title | Mnemonic Conditionality and Europeanization of Memory in Bulgaria-North Macedonia's Dispute About the Past: A Story of Mnemonic Enlargement of Europe |
| Summary | This dissertation provides insight into Bulgaria’s conditions for North Macedonia’s accession to the European Union regarding matters of the past and explores how mnemonic enlargement relates to the actual enlargement process. This PhD project also examines how mnemonic enlargement affects narratives of belonging during the accession process and, in turn, impacts the EU’s politics of memory. The dissertation departs from the literature on the Europeanization of memory through enlargement and argues that this strand is ill-suited to explaining mnemonic enlargement. Retaining the concept of Europeanization notwithstanding, the doctoral project propels conceptual and empirical arguments. Conceptually, it holds that the mnemonic enlargement of Europe during the accession process results from, but is not inevitably determined by, the actual enlargement process. That is, while triggered by mnemonic conditionality, mnemonic enlargement may take on a life of its own. Empirically, the project claims that Bulgaria’s insistence on mnemonic acquis for North Macedonia is limited because the country belongs to a different post-Yugoslav region of memory within the larger European memory region. Building on a conceptual framework at the intersection of Memory Studies and Critical European Studies, and on a Discourse Historical Approach-informed research design, the dissertation investigates the diffusion of mnemonic conditionality in European settings and its reception in bilateral and national ones. It focuses on the memory wars over World War II and Socialist Yugoslavia, spanning 2019 and 2023, thereby covering the period before and after the adoption of the 2022 negotiating framework for North Macedonia, known as the French Proposal. The findings show that Bulgaria’s effort to introduce mnemonic conditionality via anticommunist visions of Europe was limited by mnemonic and non-mnemonic visions thereof, with mnemonic enlargement taking diverse turns. On the side of the mnemonic visions, the empirical analysis demonstrates that apart from existing traumatic memory canons at the EU level, such as the Holocaust and totalitarianism, the outreach of Bulgaria’s mnemonic acquis was conditioned by authentic local narratives, often resonating with wider historical experiences in Europe, as well as remembrance regimes from earlier or even initial stages of European integration. For instance, the interviewed Bulgarian and Macedonian members of the Joint Expert Commission appealed to memories of wartime resistance or post-war reconciliation in Europe. On the other hand, through self-affirmative memory politics, Macedonian state officials expanded Europe with the memory of the National Liberation War, as well as the Ottoman-era Ilinden Uprising and the Kruševo Republic, rendering Macedonian nation-building as an incarnation of Europeanness. However, they omitted Yugoslavia from the national story. Conversely, taking affirmative memory politics further, Macedonian opinion makers frequently envisioned Europe precisely in the image of Yugoslavia. All in all, the findings suggest that mnemonic enlargement during North Macedonia’s accession process affects EU memory politics in both content and paradigm, highlighting a shift from its dominant frame of traumatic and remorseful memory toward a more affirmative memory politics that glorifies the nation. As a result, the dissertation speaks to larger trends in European and international memory politics and opens new avenues for future research. |
| Supervisor | Fetzer, Thomas |
| Department | Political Science PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2026/nikolovski_ivan.pdf |
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