The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) strongly condemns the arson of diplomatic cars at the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia (RNM). This is stated in a position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published on the website of the ministry.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs most strongly condemns this demonstrative act of aggression, threatening the health and lives of the employees of our embassy in Skopje, the position states.
Earlier today, an unknown person set fire to two of the diplomatic cars of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Skopje, located in front of the official entrance of the mission. "Without the timely intervention of the Bulgarian consul with a fire extinguisher, the damage from this deliberate arson could have been significantly greater. We insist on swift and fair justice in the case," the MFA's position reads.
According to the MFA, this latest attack against Bulgaria and Bulgarians is "the result of aggressive political speech inciting hatred and the lack of adequate response by institutions in previous similar landmark cases, which create a sense of impunity for the perpetrators."
Our Foreign Ministry recalls that after the latest arson attack in the Republic of North Macedonia against the Bulgarian Cultural Club in the city of Bitola, "instead of receiving adequate punishment, the arsonist was glorified and was involved in a pre-election political campaign."
The Bulgarian state will continue to use all established mechanisms to oppose attempts to create an atmosphere of fear for Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia, the MFA states.
The Government of North Macedonia categorically condemned “the vandalism and inadmissibility of the arson of vehicles with diplomatic status in the immediate vicinity of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Skopje”.