Hate speech in Skopje has led to an attack on journalist Vlado Perev

The journalist and doyen of the Bulgarian community in North Macedonia, Vladimir Perev, was verbally and physically attacked in a shop in Skopje. He himself reported the incident in a publication on the “Tribuna” website. Perev, who is 80 years old, was struck in the face and his glasses were broken. “You Bulgarians should go back to Bulgaria… I don’t want to hear the word ‘Macedonian’ from your filthy Bulgarian mouth… If I ever hear you speak about a Macedonian or call yourself a Macedonian, I will kill you…”, Perev quotes in his report the insults directed at him by an approximately 40-year-old man in the cashier line of the store.

“We strongly condemn yet another act of hate-motivated violence against a Bulgarian in the Republic of North Macedonia – a phenomenon that is unfortunately fueled by the current socio-political atmosphere and anti-Bulgarian rhetoric”, stated the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to the latest attack on a Bulgarian in North Macedonia. “We expect the competent authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia to take timely and effective action to investigate and deliver justice. We remind that the country’s EU path requires full and conscientious implementation of the 2022 European Compromise, including respect for common values and guaranteeing the rights of Macedonian Bulgarians”, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said further.

According to sources of Radio Bulgaria, on Tuesday, November 25, the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje will officially inform the embassies of EU member states in Skopje about the latest act of aggression against Macedonian Bulgarians in North Macedonia.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Published and translated by Kostadin Atanasov