site.btaEight-day Detention Measure for Man Suspected of Attacking Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje

The Basic Criminal Court in Skopje has ordered an eight-day detention measure for a 55-year-old man suspected of attacking the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje. The suspect allegedly broke the glass of the building’s entrance door by throwing a stone at it.

The pre-trial judge ordered the arrest at the request of the prosecution due to the risk that the suspect might flee or commit another crime.

According to the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office Skopje, the suspect damaged foreign property and, "out of hatred", smashed the glass of the entrance door of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Skopje, after which he immediately fled in an unknown direction.

Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry reacted as early as Sunday, January 11, describing the incident as "an unacceptable violation of the status of a diplomatic mission and a gross breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations." The ministry called on the competent authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia to immediately take all necessary steps to identify the perpetrator, bring him to full criminal responsibility, and guarantee the security of Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions, their staff, and their property.

On its official Facebook page, the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje published video footage from its security cameras showing the incident.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of North Macedonia also condemned "the incident in which an unknown individual broke the glass of the building housing the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Skopje."

"Individual acts of vandalism of this kind are unacceptable and contrary to the principles of international law and the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the ministry stated.