site.btaSofia Condemns Vandalizing of Bulgarian Soliders' Monument by a Macedonian

Sofia Condemns Vandalizing of Bulgarian Soliders' Monument by a Macedonian

Sofia, September 23 (BTA) - Sofia condemned Friday the vandalizing of a Bulgarian soldiers' monument at Mount Kajmakcalan in Greece, near the border with Macedonia by a Macedonian man only a day after an official Bulgarian delegation attended a commemorative event there. "We call upon the authorities of the Republic of Macedonia to distance themselves [from this act] and make sure such disgraceful acts never happen again," the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It says that, unfortunately, this is not an isolated act and it causes a concern as it occurred while the two countries are negotiating the signing of a goodneighbourliness treaty.

On September 21, Bulgarian top brass attended a memorial service held for the first time in a hundred years to pay respects for the fallen Bulgarian and Serbian soldiers in the battle at Mount Kajmakcalan during World War One. The next day a group of Macedonian men, in an apparent organized act, climbed Kajmakchalan and one of them smashed the commemorative plaque with a hammer, as shown in media reports.

The Foreign Ministry in Sofia said that the man with the hammer will be banned from entering Bulgaria.

It also vowed to rebuild the monument jointly with other institutions.

"For long years, Bulgaria has been making efforts to hold joint observances of the fallen soldiers and duly mark their graves. This is an established world practice whereby people pay tribute to the fallen on all sides of military conflicts, and this is seen as a symbol of reconciliation and a will for peaceful coexistence," the Foreign Ministry said.

"For years now the authorities in the Republic of Macedonia have been promising to consider the Bulgarian initiatives and for years now we continue to see acts of vandalism: shameful and inexplicable acts from the viewpoint of the universal human values and respect for the memory of the dead," the statement goes.

The smashing of the Kajmakchalan monument prompted reactions by political parties in Bulgaria. Ranking representatives of the Bulgarian Socialist Party deplored the act and called for a prompt reaction by the government in Bulgaria. Krassimir Karakachakov, the co-leader of the nationalist Patriotic Front, wrote an open letter to the Macedonian authorities calling this an "anti-human, anti-moral and anti-Christian act" and warning that his and other parties in the Bulgarian Parliament would not back Macedonia's bid for entry in the EU and NATO if this act remains unpunished. LN///