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.

 

Taking advantage of their geostrategic position, Bulgaria and Georgia have the potential to deepen their connectivity in various areas such as transport, energy, and the digital sector, which will contribute to promoting the economy, investment, and prosperity in the Black Sea region. This was stated by President Rumen Radev, who held a meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili.

The two were unanimous that restoring peace in Europe through diplomacy is a priority for the EU and the only way to ensure the long-term security and stability of the Old Continent.

The President recalls that the institution of the Special Commercial Administrator (SCA) was introduced by an Act adopted in 2023, which also established a number of safeguards against potential abuse and arbitrariness — safeguards of the kind already adopted in other European states faced with similar circumstances, with the objective of minimising the risk of subsequent financial claims against the State

Bulgaria stands in solidarity with Lebanon's efforts to support peace, security and stabilisation of the Middle East, which are also of utmost importance to the EU, Radev says after a meeting in Sofia with his Lebanese counterpart