Attack on Bulgarian cultural and information centre in Skopje

During the night of 15-16 March 2023, unknown persons broke into the building of the Bulgarian Cultural Information Centre in Skopje, North Macedonia. The incident caused material damage to the rear wall of the premises, which was opened on 25 November 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

"Regardless of the motivation of the perpetrators, the crime is an attack against the Bulgarian state itself, in the person of a state institution. It should be recalled that by the bilateral Agreement on the Opening of the Cultural Information Centres from 2003, the two countries undertook to ensure the normal functioning of the cultural information centres in the two capitals," the Foreign Ministry said.

At a meeting today at the Foreign Ministry, the director of the Southeast Europe Directorate, Vanya Andreeva, expressed to the Ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia, Agneza Rusi-Popovska, serious concern over the fact that this crime is taking place in the context of an ongoing anti-Bulgarian campaign in North Macedonia, including a series of attacks against organisations of local Bulgarians, for which there is still no effective justice and punishment, the Foreign Ministry said.

She has underlined the Bulgarian state's expectation that the institutions of North Macedonia will not only identify the perpetrators of this crime, but also clearly demonstrate that such attacks against representations of Bulgaria are absolutely unacceptable and will be prosecuted with the full severity of the law.

It is of particular importance that the perpetrators of such acts are not allowed to maintain a sense of impunity, for which both the effective administration of justice and the public narrative created by politicians are important, the Foreign Ministry said.