site.btaPresident Radev: Hristian Pendikov Case Is Result of Decades-Long Policy for Instilling Hatred towards Bulgarians 

“The case of Hristian Pendikov is the result of a decades-long policy for instilling hatred towards Bulgarian in the Republic of North Macedonia and everything that is Bulgarian. Which is why it is important for authorities in North Macedonia to state clearly that this a hate crime and not conventional crime,” said President Rumen Radev, speaking to journalists in Pernik on Friday, where he arrived for the start of the Surva International Festival of Masquarade Games. 

Cases of sustained abuse of people with Bulgarian identity which are not investigated and punished lead to such physical violence, said the Bulgarian head of state. 

On Monday, the Bulgarian Interior Minister, the State Agency for National Security Chairman  and the Ambassador will leave for North Macedonia. "They will request of the Macedonian authorities to state clearly what measures they will take so that Macedonian Bulgarians feel protected and free as it should be in an European state. “These will be the criteria that North Macedonia will be judged by. But to get there, the government and the institutions of North Macedonia have to do a lot of work, starting with the replacement of school books, the media and the overall attitude of the institutions towards the Macedonian Bulgarians and their entry in the Constitution,” said Radev. He added that the European Union should accept that this is not a bilateral problem, is not a question of history and language but a matter of human rights. 

"We expect as soon as possible Macedonian Bulgarians to be entered in the Constitution of North Macedonia,” said the head of state. "From now on it is extremely important to consolidate our efforts so that we can use all mechanisms of bilateral diplomacy and resolve once and for all this problem," called Radev.