Рeople who receive Bulgarian books are under pressure in North Macedonia

Viktor Stoyanov organize the civil initiative "Send a Bulgarian book to Macedonia".

The initiative has been operating from 3 months and more than 400 Bulgarians from Bulgaria and the world have joined it.

We sent 1600 Bulgarian books to 534 people in North Macedonia and the interest in Bulgarian literature on the part of the people there is huge. Organizing the whole initiative, I communicate daily with many people from North Macedonia, and yesterday I received 3 signals of pressure from the National Security Service of North Macedonia on people who have received Bulgarian books.

It concerns: the person from Bitola: about 8 days ago, two national security agents visited him at his workplace and asked him about me, about our initiative with the books and why he reads Bulgarian books, to his answer that so he wished he had been warned to be careful. He was then questioned as to what would be determined ethnically at the forthcoming census in the North Macedonia, to his answer: "as a Bulgarian", he was warned not to do so, and agents told him that Bulgarians were "beasts and murderers of the Macedonian people, that they were raped their wives "and that he is a traitor if he enrolls as a Bulgarian and may have problems. All this is taking place in front of his colleagues. The person feels threatened because of his ethnic self-determination and because he reads classical Bulgarian literature.

Another case from 5 days ago with the person from the town of Kochani. He was called to the police station and had to wait 4 hours until a national security agent came to question him about me and our initiative in the books. Не is also a Bulgarian citizen. He was again asked how it would be written at the forthcoming census and was warned that if a Bulgarian enrolled he would not expect anything good and move to Bulgaria.

The person from Resen was summoned yesterday by a national security agent and was questioned about the initiative with the books and about me, as he was asked to say who else received Bulgarian books. He was told not to take any more Bulgarian books because he might have problems.

I have information that a total of 34 people have been accustomed to this method in the last 10 days. People who read Bulgarian books feel threatened by the actions of their own country. I will do my best to document all specific cases of state repression against people who read Bulgarian books in the Republic of Northern Macedonia. The warnings from the National Security Service that people should not register as Bulgarians at the forthcoming census, although they define themselves as Bulgarians, are also very worrying. /BGNES