site.btaUPDATED Interior Minister Demerdzhiev: About 200 People Were Blocked at Border Crossings with North Macedonia on Feb. 4

About 200 people were blocked at the border crossings with the Republic of North Macedonia on February 4 - the day of the tribute to the memory of revolutionary Gotse Delchev, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told the Bulgarian National Television on Monday evening. A Bulgarian delegation laid a wreath at the grave of Gotse Delchev in the courtyard of the Church of the Ascension in Skopje on February 4 to mark the revolutionary’s 151st birth anniversary. 

For a long time these people were not processed at the border crossings. This caused them discontent, but we are not talking about discontent of the type of some radical sentiment, Demerdzhiev said. According to him, they were unjustifiably prevented from paying tribute at Gotse Delchev's grave. 

These are 200 people who were being held in so-called "no man's land" after being processed by Bulgarian border authorities and not processed for hours by the border authorities of North Macedonia, Demerdzhiev noted. 

He said that the explanation of the Macedonian authorities was that there was a power outage at the border crossing. Only it turned out that there were no problems with electricity at the exit to Bulgaria, he added. Demerdzhiev said that for this reason Bulgaria would donate generators to them. "When there are absurd explanations for a situation, it is natural to receive an absurd offer of help. This is my proposal. It is a sign that we should be honest in our relations," the interior minister said.

Demerdzhiev said he deeply doubted that this was the real reason these nearly 200 people were not allowed entry, adding that he believed the real reason was a "lack of political will". 

According to Demerdzhiev, Bulgaria has never stopped lending a helping hand, and during his visit to North Macedonia at the beginning of last week, he gave a clear sign of a helping hand and identified all the problems to be avoided at the marking of the birth anniversary of Gotse Delchev. 

The interior minister said that on Wednesday he will meet with Hristian Pendikov, who was attacked in Ohrid on January 19, and offer him protection by the Interior Ministry. Demerdzhiev added that Pendikov continues to receive threats.