site.btaIvan Mihailov Centre Chair Summoned for Racist, Xenophobic Content Charges

Ivan Mihailov Cultural Centre Chair Ljupco Georgievski has been summoned to appear at the Bitola prosecution service’s office on February 27 in connection with charges for spreading racist and xenophobic materials. Georgievski published the document on his Facebook page, stating that "the repression against Macedonian Bulgarians [in North Macedonia] does not stop". The Ivan Mihailov Association was removed from the register of non-governmental organizations in North Macedonia.

"The state is once again resorting to intimidation, fabricating charges, and staging trials just to silence us, erase us, and force us to renounce our own identity. This is another attempt at repression, another blow to freedom of expression, and more proof that there is an organized campaign in [North] Macedonia to persecute anyone who publicly states that they are a Macedonian Bulgarian. But they are wrong if they think they can scare us with pressure and criminal cases. We were born here, we grew up here, we raise our children here, we will live here and die here. No government, no institution, no law passed for political reasons will extinguish our fight," wrote Georgievski.

Since July 2023, Georgievski has been facing a case on charges of spreading racist and xenophobic materials, raised after complaints from the then-member of the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, Vesna Bendevska, from the ZNAM Movement. In November 2024, Bendevska, who now serves as Deputy President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, submitted a report to the main prosecution service in Bitola claiming that the Bulgarian cultural club Ivan Mihailov in Bitola continues to operate despite its removal from the central register. Bendevska's action followed an event on November 1, when Bulgaria celebrates the National Awakeners' Day. The event, held in a venue managed by the association, featured a presentation of a facsimile edition of the play Macedonian Blood Wedding by Voydan Chernodrinski. During the presentation, "speakers described Chernodrinski as a Bulgarian revivalist and Macedonian Blood Wedding as part of Bulgarian cultural heritage, symbolizing the struggles and aspirations for freedom of Bulgarians".