Foreign Minister: Bulgaria may suspend joint projects with N Macedonia over the beating of Hristian Pendikov

Bulgaria may suspend joint projects with the Republic of North Macedonia over the assault on Hristian Pendikov, caretaker Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov said after he was heard by the parliamentary committee on January 25. He specified that Sofia would not stop Skopje's European integration because North Macedonia had never started negotiations. Days after the beating of Hristian, Bulgarian ambassador Angel Angelov refuted allegations of a criminal element in the case with the fact that Pendikov has a clean criminal record.

Foreign ministers of Bulgaria and North Macedonia both condemned the attack on the Bulgarian Cultural Club's Secretary in Ohrid

Work on bilateral projects to be suspended - this will be part of the Bulgarian reaction to the case of the attack on the secretary of the Bulgarian cultural club in Ohrid, Hristian Pendikov.

Nikolay Milkov, caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs: "We are all of the opinion that things cannot continue as they were. At the moment this is not the productive approach. It should be clearly understood that things have changed. Things will not continue as they were. We will review a number of components and elements of our bilateral cooperation with this neighbouring country."

Milkov again insisted that the authorities in the RNM ensure that the perpetrators of the beating of Pendikov are punished and that Bulgaria keeps all European partner organisations informed, including the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which North Macedonia currently chairs.

"While Pendikov is in hospital, he is receiving threats on the internet. This speaks of complete impunity and of the conviction of the people who send these threats that they will remain unidentified," Nikolay Milkov said.

Hate crimes against Bulgarians are on the rise in RNM months after Bulgaria signed a bilateral protocol with mechanisms to protect the rights of Bulgarians and measures against hate speech.

"Unfortunately, we have received many assurances that have not been implemented so far. On the contrary, you see that we have an escalation of tensions in the RNM," the minister added.

Regarding the people who have Bulgarian identity there. There are hate crimes there that are punished with minimal or no punishment, which tolerates an atmosphere of impunity and actually encourages such acts.

Buigarian Ambassador Angel Angelov is still in the country for consultations. He explained that there is no criminal element in the Hristian case.

Angel Angelov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to the Republic of North Macedonia: "Hristian Pendikov left the RNM with his foreign passport, passing through border control. No one is looking for him on the territory of the RNM. Pendikov applied for Bulgarian citizenship in December with a criminal record document stating that he had not been tried on the territory of the RNM".

In Sofia, GERB leader Boyko Borissov met with Pendikov's mother, to whom he explained that he would personally inform the EPP about the case and that he would continue to insist that those responsible for the beating be punished.

Boyko Borissov, leader of GERB: "It will get to the point that very quickly in the negotiations with the European Commission we will raise the topic at the European Council, Parliament, our MEPs will tell what is going on and as they see themselves ready, they may suddenly have a lot of problems. Our anger is not harmless."

If on 4 February Bulgarians are stopped at the border with our south-western neighbour and are not allowed to go to Skopje to honour the memory of Gotse Delchev, Bulgaria will react negatively, Milkov explained. President Stevo Pendarovski called on Bulgarian MEPs and other Bulgarians not to be allowed. After a late meeting of the country's government, it was not clear this had been taken as a decision.

Oliver Spasovski, Minister of the Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia: "We know that we sometimes have radical structures, which because of some personal interests, political, some others, want to disturb the process of stabilisation of the peoples, on one hand, and on the other hand, because we dare not allow the safety of our citizens to be disturbed. If Dzhambazki appears at the border on 4 February, will he be returned? "

To mark the anniversary of the birth of Bulgarian revolutionary Gotse Delchev, groups of Bulgarians are organising to travel by buses to North Macedonia to lay flowers at the sarcophagus with his remains in the St Spas church in Skopje, which was moved there by the Bulgarian communist regime in 1947. Structures of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity) organised a round-the-clock vigil around the church.

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