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"We want the rights of the Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia to be protected.

We strive for such a de-escalation that will lead to a better protection of the rights of the Bulgarians.

We await practical steps.

The most important practical step, of course, is the inclusion of Bulgarians in the constitution".

This is what the acting Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov said in the program "Why, Mr. Minister?" on BTV

Nikolay Milkov was born on December 10, 1957 in Sofia.

He graduated from the French High School in Sofia, due to the strained relations with the RSM in recent days.

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Relations Bulgaria - Republic of Macedonia 830

The foreign minister also responded to the reproach of Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski that the case of the Bulgarian Hristiyan Pendikov, who was beaten in Ohrid, was being politicized: "The issue of respecting the rights of people with a Bulgarian identity, as well as Bulgarian citizens who live in the RSM, is a political issue .

It is contained in various documents.

It is enshrined in the Declaration of the National Assembly from October 2019, and we are obliged to react accordingly".

According to him, relations with the RSM in Bulgaria are much less a matter of internal politics than they are in North Macedonia itself, and in the case of Pendikov's attack, it is undoubtedly a hate crime.  

Pendarovski: The Bulgarians politicized the case of Hristiyan Pendikov

"I think we can also refer to what the Macedonian prosecutor said at the very beginning.

In the first hours after the incident, I feel like there was some consternation there and immediately afterwards they had to admit it was a hate crime.

The prosecutor himself said that he was attacked precisely as a Bulgarian and because he is a Bulgarian, which is undoubtedly a hate crime.

In this sense, I think that the statements of Buyar Osmani, who visited Sofia, were also there, and I thank my fellow minister for this gesture," Milkov clarified.

The minister reminded that similar attacks against Bulgarian cultural clubs in RSM happen often - arson, shooting and acts of vandalism.

He also emphasized that the attacks against Pendikov continued even after he was transported to the Military Medical Academy in Sofia - he received insults and threats over the phone.

Because of the threats at this stage, Hristiyan Pendikov, who is the secretary of the Bulgarian club in Ohrid, will not return to North Macedonia, but will remain in Bulgaria.

"The bad thing is that we actually have a dilemma that many people in North Macedonia are faced with - they must either be humiliated there, not engage in their activities as members of these Bulgarian clubs, or in the other case - be expelled and come to live in Bulgaria.

This is a serious problem, because instead of investigating the criminals, the miscreants, those who attack, the activists of the clubs are called to the police, who have to give explanations and at any moment they do not know as what they are called, whether as accused of something or as just witnesses to what happened", commented the foreign minister, referring to the case of the chairman of the Bulgarian cultural club in Bitola "Ivan Mihailov" Lupcho Georgievski.

"In practice, Bulgarians in North Macedonia and people with a Bulgarian identity do not trust the institutions.

They do not take their grievances to the institutions because they know they will not get justice.

They know these crimes will not be investigated.

On the contrary, additional pressure will be put on them, and this already closes the vicious circle.

They don't complain, there are no investigations, and when there are, they lead nowhere," added Milkov.

He also said that because of the tension surrounding the celebration of 151 years since the birth of Gotse Delchev on February 4, the acting interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev and the director of DANS Plamen Tonchev are leaving for Skopje on Monday for the measures and practical steps.

According to the foreign minister, it is not normal for North Macedonia to ban Bulgarian MEPs from entering the country.

Relations Bulgaria - Republic of Macedonia

Nikolai Milkov

Christian Pendikov