site.btaPresident Radev Talks with EU Commissioner Varhelyi about Aggression against Bulgarians in North Macedonia

In a telephone call with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Oliver Varhelyi, President Rumen Radev said that it is high time the institutions in the Republic of North Macedonia effectively counteracted violence and hate speech against Bulgarians, the head of State's Press Secretariat said.

Radev stressed that the growing number of cases of anti-Bulgarian aggression in the Republic of North Macedonia require a firm institutional response. Attempts to downplay them and treat them only as criminal cases are not in the interest of bilateral relations and Skopje's European perspective. Inaction and lack of punishment encourage hate crimes, he added.

The President called on the EU to ensure that the rights and security of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia are respected with the same vigour with which the EU was pushing for the acceleration of Skopje's European integration.