site.btaSofia Slams Guilty Verdict of Bulgarian Community Leader in North Macedonia

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a position paper that it considers the guilty verdict against Ljupcho Georgievski, the leader of a disbanded cultural centre in Bitola, the Republic of North Macedonia, to be "totally unacceptable".

A court in Bitola handed a one-year suspended sentence with a two-year probation period to Georgievski on charged of inciting xenophobia, racism, and ethnic hatred by posting quotes of the controversial historical figure Ivan Mihailov on the club’s Facebook page.

The Ministry recalled that Georgievski is one of the most prominent representatives of the Bulgarian community in North Macedonia, chairman of the Ivan Mihailov Cultural Club in Bitola, which was closed down by the authorities in Skopje, and a Bulgarian citizen. 

The statement says: "It is absolutely unacceptable that in a country which claims to be a model of a functioning multiethnic democracy, the open expression of belonging to the Bulgarian people, the honoring of Bulgarian national symbols and heroes, and the dissemination of authentic Bulgarian literature are punished with the threat of imprisonment. There is no doubt that the approach of the authorities in North Macedonia - alongside the deliberate cultivation of an atmosphere of intolerance through constant anti-Bulgarian rhetoric - is intended to instill fear of exercising the right to free self-identification, and to marginalize and stigmatize the Bulgarian community. The violations of the rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia are a fact that cannot be denied. Today’s court ruling against Mr. Georgievski is yet another confirmation of the authorities’ practical refusal in our southwestern neighbor to guarantee the fundamental rights of this group of its citizens. Quite the opposite – instead of protecting them, the judicial system is actively being used against them. This serves as a clear illustration of the problems with the independence, professionalism, efficiency, and impartiality of the judicial system in North Macedonia, as already clearly identified by the EU."

The approach of institutional intimidation cannot silence the voice of Macedonian Bulgarians and their legitimate aspiration to guarantee their rights as full citizens of North Macedonia in the spirit of European values and achievements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.

“We will inform our partners from the European Union member states about this latest court case, which can only be described as a punitive action against representatives of the Bulgarian community,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elena Shekerletova told journalists in Vienna.