Although Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of the then Republic of Macedonia, most of its academics, as well as the general public, do not recognize the Macedonian language and nation formed after the Second World War as being separate from Bulgarian proper.[15] Some North Macedonian politicians consider Bulgarian territory to be part of a greater Macedonia, claiming the majority of the population there are oppressed ethnic Macedonians.[16] Macedonia and Bulgaria signed a friendship treaty to improve their complicated relations in August 2017. A joint commission on historical and educational issues was formed in 2018 to serve as a forum where controversial historical and educational issues could be raised and discussed. According to the reports, this commission has made little progress in its work for a period of one year.[17] In October 2019, Bulgaria set out a “Framework position” warning that it would block the accession process unless North Macedonia fulfilled a number of demands regarding what Bulgaria perceived as "anti-Bulgarian ideology" in the country,[18][19] and ultimately over an 'ongoing nation-building process' based on historical negationism of the Bulgarian identity, culture and legacy in the broader region of Macedonia.[20][21][22] Bulgarian politicians claim North Macedonia remains the only country in NATO, that is an EU-candidate, which politics is based on communist historical and linguistic dogmas accepted by ASNOM.[23]