Lyubcho Georgievski and Blagoy Shatorov from the closed club in Bitola, North Macedonia, received Bulgarian citizenship

Bulgaria’s President, Rumen Radev, on May 19, granted Bulgarian citizenship to Lyubcho Georgievski and Blagoy Shatorov, who are the chairman and the secretary of the "Ivan Mihailov" Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Bitola, which was closed by the authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia.

The two arrived at the presidency accompanied by their families, Hristian Pendikov and other Macedonian Bulgarians.

Vice President, Iliana Iotova, signed the decrees for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship on the basis of their Bulgarian origin.

Several lawsuits are pending against Georgievski in Bitola, and the club was shut down because of special retroactive legislation passed on the basis of its name and purpose in its charter.

According to the special legislation of the RNM and the Commission on Names of Associations, the name of the club offends national feelings and questions the identity of the Macedonian people.

The acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship by Lyubcho Georgievski and Blagoy Shatorov puts an end to a paradox, namely that the chairpersons of the Bulgarian clubs in the RNM do not have Bulgarian citizenship, despite the threats, verbal and physical abuse against some of them and their clubs, revealed in April 2022.

Images by Alexander Markov

Bulgarian club "Ivan Mihailov" in Bitola removed from the Central Registry of North Macedonia