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Radev: We Cannot Build Good Neighbourhood and Sustainable European Future with Hate Speech, Falsifications and Insults towards Bulgarians

The Head of State attended the launch of the book "The Struggles of the Macedonian Bulgarians for Rights and Independence - 68 Cases from the Period 1944-1994" by Associate Professor Dr Spas Tashev

I believe that every Bulgarian politician and public figure, who faces the European issues and the topic of the place of the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) in them, should be very clearly aware that state positions should be built on the basis of objective historical facts, expertise and human rights, President Rumen Radev said at the launch of the book "The Struggles of the Macedonian Bulgarians for Rights and Independence - 68 Cases from the Period 1944-1994" by Associate Professor Dr Spas Tashev at the SS Cyril and Methodius National Library. In his address, the head of state defined as one of Bulgaria's major shortcomings in its modern history the neglect of the fate of the Bulgarians in the RNM and their rights.

They are not included in the 1999 Declaration on Good Neighbourliness and Friendship, they are not in the 2017 Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation, they are not in the 2019 National Framework Position. When Bulgaria quite rightly vetoed the opening of membership negotiations in late 2020, the Bulgarians in the RNM and their rights were not part of the reasoning either. At the same time, the pressure on this country to open the doors for the start of the negotiations was growing tremendously, the President said, adding that today everyone is talking about constitutional changes and equal rights for citizens with Bulgarian identity in the RNM, but two years ago this issue was a forbidden topic in the communication between the two countries.

Rumen Radev clarified that he had raised and defended the rights of Bulgarians in the RNM not out of a desire to stir up a historical dispute between two Balkan countries, but as a problem that affects the foundation of values and principles on which the European Union is built - human rights, the fight against hate speech and its non-admission within the common European family.

If we are a responsible EU member state that respects its past and all the people who gave their lives for our future, we cannot give up these positions because this is the honest position as EU members, the President said and recalled that a few days ago he had sent letters to all European leaders and institutions in which he explained important processes from the past but also some current challenges. We cannot build a good neighbourhood and a sustainable future with hate speech and insults against Bulgarians in textbooks, undisclosed archives of the secret services for the pogroms against Bulgarians in Macedonia and continued discrimination, the head of state said.

The accession of the RNM to the European Union is a process that Bulgaria welcomes not because of geopolitical factors, the President explained and recalled the historical and cultural connection between the two countries, which has lasted for 13 centuries.

We have a common European future ahead of us. We are not setting any new conditions. We only want to implement commitments already made, which are enshrined in the negotiating framework, which very clearly describes what should be done, the head of state concluded.