"President Rumen Radev strongly condemns the systematic violations of the rights of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia and the incitement of hatred against them, which has resulted in the assault of Bulgarian Hristian Pendikov in Ohrid," the Press Secretariat of the Bulgarian head of State said on Friday.
"Bulgaria is ready to organize Hristian Pendikov's airlift and to ensure his medical treatment," the press release says further.
"In the opinion of the President, the ambitions for accession to the European Union declared by the Republic of North Macedonia and the commitments assumed to carry out reforms and assert democratic standards in that country are at odds with the reality in which Macedonian Bulgarians live in our southwestern neighbour. Rumen Radev will raise again the issue of the observance of the rights of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia with the heads of State and government in the European Union, as well as with the European institutions and the Council of Europe," the Press Secretariat said.
The systematic violations of their rights basically prompted Bulgaria's position that North Macedonia's European integration should be contingent on tangible progress in the eradication of hate speech against Bulgaria and Bulgarians and the observance of Macedonian Bulgarians' rights.
/RY/
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