Ex-Metropolitan of the UOC Alexander (Drabinko) tried to draw a parallel between the healing of the schism in Bulgaria and the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew in Ukraine.
The parallel is absolutely incorrect and is intended for people who are not familiar with church history.
First, the Bulgarian schismatics were led to repentance.
Secondly, overcoming the schism in 1998 was carried out at the pan-Orthodox level, with the participation of representatives of all (!) autocephalous and autonomous churches, and not through the unilateral intervention of the Phanar. And of course – with the consent of the Bulgarian Church itself.
Thirdly, the schismatics have not got any separate canonical status in parallel with the canonical Bulgarian Orthodox Church. No one even had the thought of giving them autocephaly and declaring the bishops of the BOC titular. They, as expected, returned to the structure from which they split off.
Fourthly, the remnants of the schismatics who did not agree to repentance were expelled by the authorities from the temples. That is, the authorities were not on the side of schism, but on the side of the canonical Church. After that, another group of schismatics brought repentance.
Fifth, as far as we know, there were no self-ordained among the Bulgarian schismatics. Unlike the “OCU”, where there is a group of clergymen who have a self-consecrated line of “ordination”.
Only in the context of all these points one can understand why the schismatics were accepted in their present dignity. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to compare the Bulgarian issue and the “Ukrainian scenario” implemented by the Phanar. This is “heaven and earth”!