[4] Chased by the Bulgarian authorities in late August 1886, they moved to Belgrade, where they led negotiations with the Serbian government on the Macedonian issue, and participated in the formation of the Association of Serbo-Macedonians the same year.

At that time "Macedonism" was seen by the Serbian government as a possible counterweight to Bulgarian influence in Macedonia and as a stage to the gradual Serbianisation of the Macedonian Slavs.

In 1888 in a letter to Despot Badžović, Temko Popov emphasized the most important aim: to Macedonize the Macedonian Slavs.

On this occasion, Kuzman Shapkarev wrote in a letter to Marin Drinov in 1888 that "One freak - Temko Popov, illegitimate son of Stefan Vladikov - the traitor of Dimitar Miladinov, lies to the Serbian consul in Tsarigrad (Stojan Novaković),[8] that he would turn the Macedonian Bulgarians into Old Serbs".

[9] Temko moved back to Belgrade where the Saint Sava society helped him materially to his new assignment at work.