site.bta"Aggression Is Quite Unacceptable," Bulgarian PM Denkov Says about Skopje Stabbing Incident

"Certainly, aggression is quite unacceptable," Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told journalists here on Friday, commenting on an incident in which a Bulgarian Levski Sofia football fan was stabbed in Skopje.

"These relations are far more deeply rooted. Clearly, all pretexts are being sought. As you can see, even sports that are supposed to bring us together turn out, in this case, to trigger aggression," he added.

"What matters most in this case is that the young man is in stable condition after surgery. Arrangements should be made for his return to Bulgaria for further treatment," Denkov pointed out.

He specified that the ministers of interior and sports and he have considered an option for the second leg match between PFC Levski Sofia and FC Shkupi to be played in Sofia without audience so as to prevent a new escalation of tensions. The PM said that would be a last resort.

"We discussed in advance whether such bans should be imposed, but they are very extreme. Regrettably, it turned out that the arrangements on the other side [of the border] are not sufficiently good, considering that such incidents occurred," Denkov added.