site.btaAssen Vassilev: Bulgaria Must Use Diplomacy to Force North Macedonia to Respect Bulgarians' Rights 

Bulgaria must use the full force of the EU to force North Macedonia to respect the human rights of Bulgarian citizens there, according to Assen Vassilev, co-chair of Continue the Change. Vassilev spoke with reporters in parliament on Tuesday to discuss the proposal floating in North Macedonia to have a Bulgarian MEP banned from entering the country.

"The levers of the entire European diplomacy are in the hands of our diplomats, and we have to come up with a serious response that this is not only a problem between Bulgaria and [North] Macedonia, but a problem between [North] Macedonia and the entire European Union", Vassilev said.

He said that North Macedonia will not start the accession process until Bulgaria and the EU make sure that citizens in North Macedonia with Bulgarian identity are protected.