site.btaBulgarian Politician's Statement in Skopje Condemned by North Macedonia's Foreign Ministry

Bulgaria's Vazrazhdane party leader Kostadin Kostadinov, who chairs the National Assembly Committee for Bulgarians Abroad, attended the inauguration of the new premises of the Bulgarian Culture and Information Centre in Skopje on Friday. Approached by local journalists, he said: "Every Bulgarian in Bulgaria loves Macedonia and has nothing against Macedonia. Bulgaria and Macedonia are two countries, but they should be one country. We want nothing but to see an end to the faking of Bulgarian history and to the statements that something which is common is different. We speak the same language and have a common culture, but I do not mind you feeling a different people."

North Macedonia's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Kostadinov's remarks, describing them as "an act of provocation with the sole aim to keep the two sides from fulfilling the sincere intentions reconfirmed by our two countries to deepen the relations between us and our peoples in the spirit of European values".

Later in the day, Kostadinov and members of the Vazrazhdane group in the Bulgarian National Assembly visited the King Boris III Bulgarian Cultural and Information Centre in Ohrid, North Macedonia two days after the place came under gun attack. After meeting with representatives of the club, Kostadinov told BTA that he expressed support for the King Boris III Association in Ohrid. He said representatives of the club will visit the Bulgarian National Assembly for a hearing in the Committee for Bulgarians Abroad.