site.btaUPDATED King Boris III Bulgarian Club Opens in Ohrid amid Protests, Chants "Tatars!", "Fascists!"

A Bulgarian club named King Boris III was opened in Ohrid, North Macedonia, on Friday while a protest was staged in front of the building housing the club.

"We do not intend to provoke anyone. The association was registered nearly a year ago and it meets the legal requirements, but the politicization [of the event] gave rise to tensions," said Tome Blazevski, Chairperson of the King Boris III Civil Society Association.

The opening was attended by Bulgaria's Ambassador in Skopje Angel Angelov, Bulgaria's Consul General in Bitola Dimitar Ivanov, philanthropist and founder of the Bulgarian Memory Foundation Milen Vrabevski, with whose support the club was furnished, and representatives of the Bulgarian diplomatic community and Bulgarian associations in North Macedonia.

Angelov and Vrabevski cut the ribbon while the protesters on the street in front of the club were blowing vuvuzelas, chanting "Macedonia!", "Tatars!", "Fascists!", and throwing water bottles and eggs at the windows of the building. The protest was organized by the local chapter of North Macedonia’s Left [Levica] party and was supported by Hristijan Mickoskiader, the leader of the biggest opposition party in North Macedonia VMRO-DPMNE.

An interactive billboard in downtown Ohrid said: "No to commemorating fascism. The government allows it - the people do not".

At the opening ceremony, Vrabevski stated that there was no future in history, but Friday’s reactions showed that it was good to know the truth for the sake of friendship, good-neighbourliness and building bridges. "The path is clear. Bulgaria is Europe and the Republic of North Macedonia should be part of Europe, too," he stressed and showed photographs of King Boris III (the monarch of Bulgaria between 1918 and 1943) during his visit to Macedonia in 1941.

Ivanov said for his part: "We are aware of the difficulties and the pressure to which you are subjected, but rest assured that, as representatives of the Bulgarian State, we support your activity in building bridges and spreading the historical truth".