BRITISH LEGATION,

SOFIA.

25th August, 1940.

My dear Phil,

Мy telegram No.493 of August 15th -Macedonia.

It is very difficult to know what is happening about Italian and German intrigues in Macedonia, or about the attitude of the Macedonians themselves as between the various belligerent powers, and anything I write on the subject must therefore be conjectural; but you have already had a certain amount of material from me which will, I hope, have given you a general background, and it may perhaps be worth trying to bring my impressions up to date.

• 2. My impression is that the Macedonians are still rather under an eclipse here in Bulgaria. Most non-Macedonian Bulgarians feel that the Macedonians have been more trouble in Bulgaria than they were worth and merely gave the country a bad name abroad without helping the national cause. But there are people here who tell me that they think that the Macedonians are now becoming rather more important again.

• 3. My impression is that there is now a fairly large section of the Macedonians who look to Russia for their salvation. These presumably include the adherents of the so-called Pladne group, to whom I referred in paragraph 2 of my telegram No. 505 of August 16th, and probably also the Macedonian members or the Communist party, who are mentioned in my despatch No.352 of August 14th about a recent communist manifesto privately circulated here. I think these pro-Russian groups probably hope for the eventual creation of an autonomous Macedonian Soviet Republic as one of a chain of South Slav Soviet states running from the Black Sea to the Adriatic and to the German and Italian frontiers.

• 4. On the other hand, there are certainly a number of Macedonians who are shortsighted enough to be ready to intrigue with Germany and Italy (Italy has of course always threatened to cause trouble here through the Macedonians), and it may be that some of these people think that they would rather be “autonomous” under Italy than remain incorporated in Serbia. The Macedonians are notoriously difficult, and have many of the characteristics of the Irish, and my impression is that they are happiest in opposition to any existing regime.