It is high time that the institutions in the Republic of North Macedonia effectively counter violence and verbal manifestations of hatred against Bulgarians, President Rumen Radev said in a call with EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi.

The head of State stressed that the increasing instances of aggression against Bulgarians in Bulgaria's southwestern neighbour require a firm institutional response. Attempts to downplay them and treat them only as criminal offenses are not in the interest of bilateral relations and the European perspective of North Macedonia. Inaction and lack of punishment encourage hate crime.

The President called on the European Union to ensure that the rights and safety of the Bulgarians in North Macedonia are respected with the same vigour with which it had been pushing for the acceleration of its European integration.