The article is devoted to the problems of the medieval history dis-pute between Macedonia and Bulgaria. In the article, most attention is paid to the following questions: the early Slav state formation, as a part of the study of legends about ancient (semi)mythical rul-ers, Samuel’s kingdom, as the most contradictory issues between counterparties, and the pre-Ottoman period of Balkan history that put an end to the existence of independent states in the region for centuries.