OMO "Ilinden" - PIRIN: Blueprint on good neighborly ties is detrimental
Bulgaria should first recognize the Macedonian nation and language as these realities are key factor in building good neighborly relations, OMO "Ilinden" - PIRIN said on Thursday.The statement of OMO "Ilinden" - PIRIN, organization of Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, came as response to latest reports on impending deal on good neighborly relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia.
"We express full support to good neighborly relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia. We also support the efforts to overcome the hate speech in the mass media However, we also express outrage at some aspects of the draft-deal proposed by our government," OMO "Ilinden" - PIRIN said.
The organization cautions that the proposed deal would lead to blockade of Macedonia's integration into the Euro-Atlantic community in the footsteps of Greece, but this time such a blockade could be made even in more unscrupulous way.
"Macedonian organizations in Bulgaria were founded by Macedonian minority living in Bulgaria, not by Macedonian state. These organizations were created by citizens of Bulgaria, and hence, Macedonia cannot deprive Bulgarian citizens with Macedonian self-feeling of their freedom to assembly and of association, and neither Bulgaria can do so.
"To seek responsibility from Macedonia about the attitude of Bulgarian citizens, and to threaten with veto on EU membership is not just a request for impossible terms but an extortion of some Bulgarian citizens to give up their struggle for human rights," the organization said.
Source: News Agency Makfax