site.btaNorth Macedonia's President and PM: Bulgarian Cultural Clubs Need to Observe Associations Act

The Republic of North Macedonia's President Stevo Pendarovski Thursday said that the Bulgarian cultural clubs in his country should observe the Act on Associations and Foundations, which was recently amended with the votes of both the incumbents and the opposition, instead of making up new mechanisms for the clubs' existence. Pendarovski was taking a question about the way the Bulgarian clubs will exist after the three-month period in which they have to change their names in accordance with the legislative changes, otherwise they will be deregistered.

The clubs in question are the Ivan Mihailov Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Bitola and the King Boris III Bulgarian culture club in Ohrid.

In Pendarovski's words, these clubs should exist but they have to respect the feelings of all citizens and residents of North Macedonia, and the best way to do that is to give the clubs names that have nothing to do with the fascist past. 

Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski commented that the laws apply to everyone, and everything should be done in conformity with the law. He gave as an example of institutional cooperation the official opening of the new building of the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Centre in Skopje, the opening of MIA's office in Sofia, and the expected opening of a cultural centre of North Macedonia in Blagoevgrad (Southwestern Bulgaria), for which Kovacevski's government will send an official request to Bulgaria. Cultural clubs should be a place for rapprochement, not discord, he reiterated.

In his words, the provocations on Bulgaria's part are many. He described as a good sign that the official policy of Bulgaria is sticking to proper rhetoric. He praised the Bulgarian Foreign Minister's position that attention should be paid to the official position of North Macedonia, and not of separate politicians there.