The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled Bulgarian Ambassador to the Republic of North Macedonia, Angel Angelov, for consultations in Sofia, the Ministry reported on its website on Monday. The reason for his temporary return to Bulgaria is the grave situation regarding the rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia and the escalation of hate crimes against them in recent months.
Those crimes include the arson attack on the Ivan Mihailov Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Bitola in early June 2022, three consecutive attacks on the King Boris III Bulgarian culture club in Ohrid, including a shooting on November 24, 2022, the aggressive anti-Bulgarian social media campaign in North Macedonia, the brutal attack of January 19, 2023, on Hristian Pendikov, secretary of the King Boris III club, and the adoption in November 2022 of the discriminatory Associations and Foundations Act in the Republic of North Macedonia, the Ministry said.
The ministry specified that the purpose of the consultations is to discuss ways to stop the alarming trend of increasing pressure against the citizens of North Macedonia with Bulgarian identity and the prospects for further development of bilateral relations.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs served a protest note to North Macedonia's Ambassador Agneza Rusi Popovska on January 20 in connection with the assault against Hristian Pendikov, a citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia, who identifies as Bulgarian and Secretary of the King Boris III Club in Ohrid.
/PP/
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