ZAGREB, May 10, 2020 – Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have protested to North Macedonia following the publication of a commemorative postage stamp showing a map of WWII Croatia which included parts of present-day Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
North Macedonia has issued commemorative postage stamps as part of the “North Macedonia in the EU” series ahead of Europe Day, including one dedicated to Croatia as the current president of the Council of the European Union. The stamp shows a map of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), the Nazi puppet state that existed during the Second World War.
Serbia on Saturday presented a protest note with North Macedonia’s charge d’affairs, saying that the stamp is “an attempt at historical revisionism” that undermines bilateral relations between Serbia and North Macedonia and cooperation and stability in the entire region.
The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded that the stamp be immediately withdrawn from circulation and that the government of North Macedonia condemn the move.
North Macedonia’s postal service later expressed regret for displaying “a wrong map of Croatia and other countries in the region,” adding that the entire circulation of 6,000 stamps was being withdrawn. The state-owned company said it was an unintentional mistake and that the stamp was meant to be a mark of gratitude to Croatia for supporting North Macedonia’s EU integration bid.
Serbia said that it took the issue of such a stamp on Victory Day as an act of hostile provocation aimed against its territorial integrity and sovereignty and as an affront to the Serbian people who had been killed in their hundreds of thousands in NDH-run concentration camps.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concern about the promotion of such a stamp, as well as hope that it was an unintentional omission and that it would be strongly condemned by the government of North Macedonia.
It acknowledged the apology offered by North Macedonia’s postal service and expressed hope that this incident, which was seen as an attempt to rewrite historical facts, would not affect the otherwise good relations between the two countries.
More news about relations between Croatia and Macedonia can be found in the Politics section.
