North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevksi strongly condemn the throwing of stones that broke the window of the Nikola Vatsarov Macedonian Cultural Club in Blagoevgrad (Southwestern Bulgaria) on Saturday night, describing it as an act of vandalism. Both reacted in Facebook posts on Sunday.
The cultural club was unveiled on October 30, 2022 as part of a private initiative.
In his Facebook post, Pendarovski calls for the perpetrators’ identification and punishment.
He expresses regret “over the incidents at the Macedonian border, caused by a group of Bulgarian nationals led by MPs in their parliament.” “I regret that we are not witnessing convictions for the attacks against Macedonian police officers and Macedonian institutions. I congratulate the police and the competent bodies for the dignity and professionalism show in handling the aggressive vandals,” he writes.
He also comments on what Bulgarian MEP Alexander Yordanov wrote on Facebook by saying it contains “offences and humiliating phrases for the Macedonian people, completely inappropriate for a diplomat and member of the European Parliament.” In Pendarovski’s words, this is a case of not just lack of basic culture on Yordanov’s part but also of the harshest form of hate speech, which is unprecedented in the history of Macedonian-Bulgarian relations. “Unfortunately, the territorial demands and the denial of the Macedonian nation have become an everyday occurrence. For such negative acts we expect a timely and adequate reaction by official Sofia,” the post reads further.
In his Facebook post, Prime Minister Kovacevski writes about Sunday’s act of vandalism against the cultural club in Blagoevgrad: “Such actions do not correspond to the agreed policy for promoting the goodneighbourly relations, mutual respect, and friendship between the two neighbouring countries. I expect the competent institutions in Bulgaria as soon as possible to find and sanction the perpetrators and to condemn the vandalism. In the spirit of European values, North Macedonia will continue its efforts to strengthen the diplomatic and positive agenda between North Macedonia and Bulgaria.”
