Bulgarians in Ohrid described the shooting at cultural club as "terrorist act", Foreign Ministry handed a note to the ambassador

bulgarians ohrid described shooting cultural club terrorist act foreign ministry handed note ambassador

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23:13, 24.11.2022

Shooting at the Bulgarian cultural club "Tsar Boris III" in Ohrid. This is the third attack on the club in the recent few months. No one was injured in the incident, but there was damage to the club. Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed a protest note to the ambassador of North Macedonia.

Bulgarians in North Macedonia described the incident as a "terrorist act".

Gun shots fired at Bulgarian club in North Macedonia

The report of the shooting at the Bulgarian cultural club "Tsar Boris III" in Ohrid was filed after 20:00 local time on Wednesday, November 23, police in the city said. No one was injured in the shooting, but there was material damage to the club. Several bullets were found during a search of the club, BNT has learned.

Vlado Perev, editor-in-chief of Tribuna.mk, a Macedonian Bulgarian: "A gun was fired at 9:00 p.m. from a moving car. It is not known how many people were in the vehicle. There were no injuries."

The organisations of the Macedonian Bulgarians have remained silent so far. Their representatives in Sofia described the incident as a "terrorist act".

Petar Kolev, representative of the Macedonian Bulgarians: "This is neither a provocation nor an incident. This is not a shooting with firearms. For us, this is a terrorist act that will blow up the future of the Republic of North Macedonia."

Bulgaria passes protest note to North Macedonia’s ambassador over shooting at Bulgarian club in Ohrid

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the "serious criminal act". And minutes after 11:30, Skopje's ambassador to the country, Agneza Rusi-Popovska, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to be handed a note of protest.

In the protest note, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the repeated examples of escalating tensions and the systematic absence of adequate measures create an atmosphere of impunity in the RNM and multiply the incidents against the Macedonian Bulgarians.

Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov has also strongly raised the issue with his North Macedonian counterpart Bujar Osmani.

Kostadin Kodzhabashev, deputy foreign minister: "More and consistent efforts are needed in implementing the commitments related to the protection and guarantee of human rights, which is among the criteria - I would say the main criteria - on the path of the Republic of North Macedonia’s accession to the EU."

President Rumen Radev also strongly condemned the incident and reminded that Skopje's road to Brussels passes through respect for the rights of Bulgarians and our cultural and historical heritage there.

President Radev on the shooting at Bulgarian club in Ohrid: Republic of North Macedonia’s path to EU passes through the recognition of Bulgarians' rights

From Skopje, the co-chair of the Bulgaria-North Macedonia Joint Commission on historical and educational issues, Prof. Angel Dimitrov, also reacted saying that "this is a brutal act of hatred."

The Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, said that he had warned the clubs as soon as they opened: their names were a provocation.

"In view of these names, which have been given, there are negative feelings in the largest part of our society", Kovachevski said.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry in Skopje also condemned the incident, which they said was vandalistic and not criminal. This is yet another attack on the club.