NEWS

 

 

The Vice President attends the opening of an information centre of the "Horizons" Association for Tolerance and Cooperation

 

Many unsolved problems were shared by our compatriots in Ohrid at a meeting with Vice President Iliana Iotova who attended the inauguration of an information centre of the "Horizons" Association for Tolerance and Cooperation. Its chairman, Lyupcho Kurtelov, is a descendant of the Miladinov brothers. Iotova presented the Association with an icon of St Ivan of Rila, Bulgarian classical literature and a collection of the Miladinov songs.

 

"The Macedonian Bulgarians have a guarantee for their protection in the face of the Bulgarian state. They say that they feel such firm support for the first time in many years," the Vice President told Bulgarian and Macedonian media.

 

Discrimination in the workplace just because you are of Bulgarian origin and identify yourself as Bulgarian is the most common problem faced by our compatriots.

 

"We have learnt disturbing things about the census - the Macedonian authorities have demanded Bulgarian documents. This requirement was not applied to other ethnic groups," Iotova said. She reiterated the Bulgarian position that guarantees for the rights of the Macedonian Bulgarians are expected, the most certain guarantee being their inclusion in the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia.

 

Responding to a question from Macedonian media, the Vice President said that Bulgaria expected clear results as enshrined in the Neighbourhood Treaty. "We expect a change of certain texts in the textbooks. We expect the opening of the archives, the uncovering of the persecutions of people over their Bulgarian identity. It is unacceptable in the 21st century to desecrate monuments just because they are devoted to Bulgarians," Iotova stressed, giving concrete examples shared in her meetings with our compatriots. One of them - a repeatedly destroyed tombstone of a Bulgarian officer who participated in the liberation of these lands in 1903. 

 

Asked by a Macedonian journalist about the recognition of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, the Vice President urged him to read the Bulgarian Constitution, which mentions no minorities, and stressed that a decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was not in favour of recognising a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.

 

In Ohrid, Iliana Iotova visited a day-care centre for children with autism, funded by the Bulgarian government as part of the Foreign Ministry's "Bulgarian Development Aid" programme. The Vice President presented educational materials for the children.

 

Earlier in the day, Iotova paid tribute at the memorial to the 15 Bulgarian tourists who died on the Ilinden sunken ship in 2009.

 

Head of State Rumen Radev today congratulated his counterpart Zoran Milanovic on the occasion of his convincing victory in the presidential elections in Croatia.

Ignazden's first guest at the presidential institution is Viktor Orban, and I believe that a much better year awaits us both for relations between Bulgaria and Hungary, as well as for our peoples and Europe, the President said after his meeting with the Prime Minister of Hungary

During the talks, the Head of State stressed the key importance of ensuring the safe operation of the nuclear power plant, as well as providing Bulgarian companies, engineers and technical workers with the opportunity to participate in the activities related to the construction and operation of the new units

President Rumen Radev held a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is visiting the Novo Selo training ground today to get acquainted with the activities of the Multinational Battle Group with Italy as the host country.