Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the attack on Bulgarian club in Ohrid: We expect institutions in North Macedonia to take action

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the crime committed in the early hours on 21 November 2022 against the Boris III Cultural Club in Ohrid.

This is the second attack against this organisation in less than two months and another hate crime against Bulgarians in North Macedonia. Such actions tangibly and purposefully hinder efforts to strengthen friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation in relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said.

What is happening should be seen in the context of the attempted burning of the Ivan Mihailov club in Bitola and the glorification of its perpetrator; of the calls for denunciation of the Good Neighbourhood Agreement with Bulgaria; of the escalating hate speech in the media and social networks in North Macedonia; of months of aggressive public campaigning against Bulgarian cultural clubs; of legislative changes threatening the freedom of association of Bulgarians in the neighbouring country.

The names of the Bulgarian clubs are not the reason for this campaign. It is telling that the leader of the main opposition party is now openly calling for the immediate closure of all Bulgarian clubs, whatever they are called. It is obvious that there is still a problem with the free expression of Bulgarian identity in North Macedonia.

We are confident that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia will have a timely and adequate reaction to what has happened. There is a constructive dialogue between our two foreign policy institutions.

However, we expect this dialogue to engage other institutions in the neighbouring country in concrete actions. It is necessary for them to take timely measures to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime against the Boris III Cultural Club. The systematic absence of a real reaction creates a feeling of impunity and thus encourages the multiplication of these acts.

In the Joint Protocol between Bulgaria and North Macedonia of 17 July 2022, Skopje explicitly committed to guarantee the rights of Bulgarians, including in order to "ensure effective access to equal rights, protection from discrimination and preservation of the culture and identity of the Bulgarian community".

The authorities' response to this and other cases of hate crime will be an indication of the seriousness that the government in Skopje attaches to building good neighbourly relations and to the EU accession process.

The windows of the club were smashed as a result of stones being thrown at them. The incident happened at around 2:00 that night. Footage from inside the club released by the agency shows multiple panes of glass on the floor.

This is not the first assault on a Bulgarian club in the Republic of North Macedonia. BGNES recalls that on 12 October this year, the sign above the front door of the building was smashed. And just a few days after the official opening of the club "Vancho Mihailov" in Bitola, the front door was burnt down, with the offender Lambe Alambakovski receiving a suspended sentence. North Macedonia’s authorities blamed Bulgaria for the incident - for what happened around the associations, which were established and registered by local Macedonian citizens.

The "Tsar Boris III" club in Ohrid was opened on 7 October amid chants of insulting words against Bulgaria - Tatars, fascists, Gypsies, with stones and eggs thrown at the building. Macedonian politicians, both from the ruling coalition and the opposition, did not condemn the protest but described the opening of the club as a "provocation against the Macedonian identity".

On 17 October, members of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia approved to submit the draft law proposed by the opposition VMRO-DPMNE on amending and supplementing the Law on Associations and Foundations under a fast-track procedure, and the proposal was adopted unanimously by all 84 MPs present, without a single "against" or "abstention".

Last week, the leader of the Macedonian party VMRO-DPMNE, Hristian Mitkoski, announced that he had submitted to the Republic of North Macedonia’s Parliament a proposal to immediately close the Bulgarian clubs in North Macedonia as a reciprocal measure for the closure of the Macedonian cultural club in Blagoevgrad. But, as the BGNES correspondent from the region reported, after the impromptu "opening" of the club in the presence of the Secretary General of the President Stevo Pendarovski and the leader of the opposition party VMRO-DMPNE Hristian Mitkoski in Blagoevgrad, the club in question has not worked at all and has been locked ever since. Furthermore, the project in question is privately funded and as such neither the municipality nor other state bodies or institutions can take a position on its functioning. The initiative in question is the subject of a private agreement between the owner of the property and the tenant and the State authorities have no involvement in it.

Foreign Ministry issues position on Bulgarian clubs in North Macedonia

North Macedonia's Foreign Minister condemns opening of Bulgarian club "King Boris III" in Ohrid