site.btaAssociation of Descendants of the Refugees and Migrants from the Territory of the Republic of North Macedonia and Friends: Trial in Bitola

Association of Descendants of the Refugees and Migrants from the Territory of the Republic of North Macedonia and Friends 

Sofia, 29 January 2025

Henna Virkkunen

Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy

virkkunen-contact@ec.europa.eu

Kaja Kallas

Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

cab-kallas-contact@ec.europa.eu

Raffaele Fitto

Cohesion and Reforms

cab-fitto-contact@ec.europa.eu

Marta Kos

Enlargement

cab-kos-contact@ec.europa.eu

Michael McGrath

Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection

cab-mcgrath-contact@ec.europa.eu

On January 28, 2025, in Bitola, the Republic of North Macedonia, the trial against Ljupco  Georgievski, chairman of the banned local Ivan Mihaylov Bulgarian Cultural Club, will be heard once again. The trial was initiated at the request of the Levitsa, far-left pro-Russian and pro-Serbian party. Ljupco  Georgievski is accused of causing citizens of North Macedonia to feel offended by his ideas, which are alleged to have spread racism and xenophobia electronically. For quoting the thoughts of Ivan Mihaylov, the last leader of the authentic VMRO (IMRO – Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization), Ljupco  Georgievski is accused of denying the uniqueness of the Macedonian nation. He is also accused of expressing doubts about the official views in Skopje on the ‘historical development of the Macedonian language’.

All these accusations are completely fabricated and show the lack of freedom of thought and speech in today's North Macedonia. These accusations trample on basic objective facts.

Today, the last leader of the authentic VMRO, Ivan Mihaylov, has been declared a criminal by the authorities in Skopje, and these are allegations launched by the authorities in former Yugoslavia as early as the end of 1944, and have not changed to this day. We would like to emphasize that although born in the territory of North Macedonia, Ivan Mihaylov lived in exile from 1934 to 1990, which is why he was not physically present there to commit anything. The only ‘crime’ of Ivan Mihaylov, as well as of his ancestors Gotse Delchev, Damyan Gruev, Todor Aleksandrov and the galaxy of other fighters, is that he felt like a Bulgarian and wrote in the literary Bulgarian language, in which all publications and all legal and illegal correspondence of the authentic VMRO are written. After the Second World War, Ivan Mihaylov settled in Rome, Italy, where he enjoyed the protection of the Italian authorities. His works were published in the United States and in the democratic countries in Western Europe, and positive reviews of them appeared in authoritative publications in Germany, Italy, the Vatican and elsewhere. Ivan Mihaylov's ideas are underlain by two basic principles: the struggle for the independence of Macedonia, and cooperation and equality of all ethnic groups inhabiting it, including the Bulgarians. (Appendix 1) Ivan Mihaylov is also the author of many presentations to the UN, in which information was presented about the violation of the human rights of Bulgarians in Communist Yugoslavia. (Appendix 2)

During this same period, the Communist authorities in Belgrade and Skopje liquidated the entire democratic opposition in the territory of present-day North Macedonia on the accusation that they were followers of Ivan Mihaylov, and they were looking for him with the idea of ​​liquidating him. For this purpose, a special department was created in the Security Services. This policy of hatred towards everything Bulgarian continued after 1990, when under the pressure of circumstances Skopje was forced to formally separate from Belgrade. This is the reason why the Ivan Mihaylov Bulgarian Cultural Club in Bitola was set on fire in 2022, and the perpetrator of this crime was not only not punished, but today is a witness in the case against Ljubcho Georgievski. As a continuation of this anti-Bulgarian policy, in 2023 a special law was adopted in North Macedonia, effective retroactively, by virtue of which the Ivan Mihaylov Club was banned.

If found guilty, Ljubcho Georgievski could receive a sentence of 1 to 5 years in prison. Ljubcho Georgievski has not committed any crimes. He has promoted ideas that are freely spreading in all countries of the world, except North Macedonia, Serbia and Russia. Two years after the fire in the club, he was fired from his job, and the persecution of other prominent Bulgarians in North Macedonia continued. This official policy of Skopje has caused fear among the representatives of the Bulgarian community, and its activists have been forced to emigrate from North Macedonia. The criminal prosecution of Ljupco  Georgievski is a clear signal to all Bulgarians that the defence of the Bulgarian identity and historical truth in North Macedonia is being punished.

In parallel, Skopje's policy of rapprochement with Belgrade continues. In January 2025, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, announced that this ‘cooperation is an example of how two neighbouring countries can cooperate and create a common future.’ This took place in the presence of prominent pro-Russian and pro-Serbian politicians such as the North Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Inter-Community Relations, Ivan Stoilković, who is an open supporter of Vladimir Putin. He calls the Serbian genocide against Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica a ‘necrophile Disneyland’ and has promised to leave his country if Bulgarians are included in the constitution of North Macedonia.

Presenting the objective facts from the recent past of North Macedonia does not constitute a denial of the modern Macedonian identity. This is an individual right, and every citizen of this country can call himself Macedonian, and his language – Macedonian. But such rights should also be available to those who, despite repression, continue to preserve their Bulgarian identity. They must be able to freely express themselves to society as Bulgarians and, accordingly, call their mother tongue Bulgarian, in the way that all the revivalists and revolutionaries from the territory of today's North Macedonia called it. We perceive such bans on the expression of Bulgarian identity as a modern-day genocide that has no place in a democratic Europe.

Because of all this, we insist that European representatives familiarize themselves with the materials on the case against Ljubcho Georgievski and, if they find a violation of human rights, render him their full support. In a broader aspect, we appeal to the individual institutions of the EC, whose remit includes the described problems, to monitor the ongoing political processes in North Macedonia and to actively cooperate in its democratization.

Respectfully,

CO-CHAIRMEN: Prof. Trendafil Mitev; Assoc. Prof. Spas Tashev; Iliya Stoyanovski

SECRETARY: Dimitar M. Dimitrov

This appeal is also supported by the New Political Emigration of Macedonian Bulgarians, represented by Blagoy Shatorov and Goran Serafimov.