site.btaUPDATED Sofia Condemns New Attack on Bulgarian Club in Ohrid

The Foreign Ministry in Sofia Thursday condemned the latest attack against the King Boris III Bulgarian culture club in Ohrid, the Republic of North Macedonia. A protest note was handed to the Ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia in Sofia, Agneza Rusi Popovska, later in the day.

The attack, the third since the club's opening in October and the second in the past four days, occurred on Wednesday evening when an unknown assailant shot with a firearm at the club, leaving two holes in the club's window. The Foreign Ministry in Skopje condemned the attack, saying that it such acts of vandalism put people's lives in harm's way and that it went against the EU integration aspirations of the country.

The Foreign Ministry in Sofia would not accept the description of the attack as an act of vandalism and said it was "a serious criminal act". 

It expects the competent authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia to take swift action to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators.

At a weekly news briefing of the Foreign Ministry in Sofia, Deputy Minister Kostadin Kodjabashev said that "more and more serious action is needed for fulfilling the commitments for guaranteeing human rights, which is  key criterion on the road to EU accession for the Republic of North Macedonia".

He also said that the protest note which was handed to Ambassador Agneza Rusi Popovska points out that the recurring cases of escalating violence in recent months show in practice that the systemic absence of targeted and adequate measures creates a sense of impunity and encourages the multiplication of hate crimes against Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia".

Vazrazhdane: Issue of Attacks against Bulgarian clubs to be raised at highest level with EU

In Parliament, the leader of the Vazrazhdane party, Kostadin Kostadinov called on the Bulgarian government to urgently raise the issue of the attacks against Bulgarian clubs at the highest level in the EU. He said that the attack against the Ohrid club with a firearm "was not an attack against Bulgaria only, but against the EU, and, maybe in some sense, against NATO". "If we do not take firm action, the provocations will become even more brazen and sooner or later there could be casualties," he said.

He said that Bulgaria needs to immediately ask EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell to convene the EU Foreign Affairs Council to discuss the matter.