Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the far-right pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party, said on January 9 that North Macedonia and the Ukrainian part of Southern Bessarabia should be added to Bulgaria. 

Kostadinov compared his aims to the statement by US president-elect Donald Trump that he wants to annex the Panama Canal and Canada.

Trump said he wants the US to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, and saying they are critical for American security. He has also proposed making Canada the 51st state of the US.

Kostadinov said Trump’s claims to Canada and the Panama Canal were justified.

“The situation is the same with [North] Macedonia. There is nothing more logical than for two countries with a common history, common origin, common language and common people to become one state. The case is similar with Southern Bessarabia. It was part of the Bulgarian state for more than 450 years, the Bulgarians have been the indigenous population of this area (since the 6th century) and to this day they are the majority of the population. For comparison, Ukraine has owned Southern Bessarabia for only 34 years,” Kostadinov wrote in a Facebook post.

“That is why there is nothing more logical than the unification of Bulgaria and Macedonia into one common state, as well as the return of Southern Bessarabia back to Bulgaria. Ukraine will falling apart at the future peace congress, which will decide the fate of the failed so-called. Ukrainian statehood, Bulgaria must make its claims to Bulgarian Bessarabia," he added.

Vazrazhdane openly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is seeking Bulgaria’s return to the Russian orbit. Currently, the party is the third-largest in parliament and has the potential to gain even more support due to the years-long deep political crisis in Bulgaria.