Managing diversity or legitimizing historical manipulations?

Is Bulgaria using EU accession negotiations to dispute Macedonian identity and language? Ida Manton and Paul Meerts analyze the point of choice EU is at: to insist on the vision from the acquis with its liberal prescriptions and to increase regional cooperation and solidarity, or give way to nationalist claims which will jeopardize the enlargement process and the unification of Europe. The next stages have to correct deficiencies that exacerbated the problem. They largely stem from allowing the process to be handled by national politicians and local historians without international facilitation/mediation that would offer plausible directions within the normative EU framework. Nationalist escalation could easily intensify if not prevented while there is still a ‘zone of possible agreement’ and the possibility to set the scene for constructive dialogue.