site.btaUPDATED Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje Vandalized, Foreign Ministry Indignant that North Macedonia Authorities Tolerate Such Attacks

An unknown individual carried out an attack on the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje on Sunday, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry reported.

The Embassy said on its Facebook page that it has notified the competent authorities in North Macedonia about the attack. The Embassy published a photo of a smashed glass door of the mission building and a video which shows a man approaching the door, giving it a blow with his hand, and quickly walking away.

The Foreign Ministry said that it "strongly condemns this act against the building of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Skopje, a symbol of statehood and the official presence of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of North Macedonia."

The Ministry described the act as "an unacceptable violation of the status of a diplomatic mission and a gross breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."

The Foreign Ministry expressed its deep concern that "such a brazen act" is the result of a systematic lack of response by the competent institutions of the Republic of North Macedonia to previous attacks and acts of vandalism against sites connected to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian community.

"This institutional passivity, combined with tolerated or even incited hate speech against Bulgaria and Bulgarians in our neighbouring country, has created an environment in which such criminal acts are encouraged and escalate.

"We urge the competent authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia to take all necessary measures immediately to identify the perpetrator and bring them to full criminal responsibility, as well as to ensure the security of Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions, their personnel and property.

"The Republic of Bulgaria expects the institutions in the Republic of North Macedonia to clearly and unequivocally distance themselves from acts of hatred, to respond effectively to such crimes, to work purposefully towards creating a fundamentally different public narrative regarding relations with Bulgaria, and to fully comply with their international obligations," the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said.

It added that it will continue to monitor developments in this case closely and reserves the right to take further measures to protect Bulgarian interests.

The Bulgarian Embassy in North Macedonia wrote on Facebook: “Unpunished hate speech has consequences! Unpunished attacks against Bulgarian associations have consequences! Today, an act of vandalism was carried out against the Embassy of Bulgaria in Skopje. The lack of punishment continues to encourage the perpetrators. The hatred that is being fuelled and the constant lies continue to encourage the perpetrators.”

On its Facebook page, North Macedonia's Interior Ministry reported “damage to the glass of the entrance door of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria” in Skopje.

The Ministry wrote: “Through the video surveillance system, the embassy’s security officer noticed damage to the glass of the entrance door of the building. According to what has been established so far, the damage was caused by an individual who is currently unknown, who damaged the glass of the entrance door with a blow from their hand. Appropriate police measures have been taken at the scene of the incident, and the competent services are working to clarify the case and establish all circumstances related to the incident. Measures are being taken to fully clarify the case.”

BTA's Skopje correspondent Marinela Velichkova contributed to this story.