North Macedonia’s sentence against Bulgarian activist sparks backlash in Sofia

The recent sentence against Ljupcho Georgievski, a Bulgarian activist in North Macedonia, has reignited tensions between Sofia and Skopje and deepened concerns in Bulgaria over the state of minority rights and the rule of law in its southwestern neighbour.

Georgievski, who holds Macedonian and Bulgarian citizenship and was head of the now-banned Ivan Mihailov Cultural Club in Bitola, was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term with a two-year probation period for having quoted a historic figure on social media – a move widely condemned in Bulgaria as politically motivated repression.

In July 2023, Georgievski was charged with inciting racial and ethnic hatred and xenophobia. The accusations stem from posts on the club’s Facebook page, which shared quotes from Ivan Mihaylov, a Bulgarian revolutionary and leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO). The case was initiated following complaints from the Commission for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination, the Levitsa party, and the Union of Fighters in Bitola.

The Ivan Mihaylov Cultural Club, established in 2020 as a private initiative under the framework of the Good Neighborhood Treaty between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, aimed to promote the region’s Bulgarian heritage. However, in 2023, North Macedonian authorities passed a controversial law retroactively banning organisations named after figures deemed “controversial” by the state. Critics argue this legislation specifically targets Bulgarian cultural institutions, reflecting a broader anti-Bulgarian sentiment.

Sofia warns Skopje ahead of sentencing in ‘landmark’ court case

The verdict triggered a protest on Sunday in front of the North Macedonian embassy in Sofia, organised by the nationalist VMRO party. Participants expressed solidarity with Georgievski and accused Skopje of systemic persecution of the Bulgarian minority.

“Sentencing Ljupcho Georgievski is sentencing all Macedonian Bulgarians. No start of EU accession talks with this North Korea-style regime,” stated former MEP and VMRO deputy chair Angel Dzhambazki. He called for personal sanctions against the North Macedonian government and judicial figures involved in “repression and persecution of Bulgarians”.

Dzhambazki announced a political campaign demanding the European Parliament and European Commission be informed about what he called an “unlawful sentence” and a violation of basic freedoms.

Symbolism at the protest also underlined the historical tensions. The famous Bulgarian conductor Hristo Hristov, a descendant of Gotse Delchev’s family, held a placard reading, “Tito made you Macedonists, Mickoski made you Serbomans”.

Two days before the protest, Slavi Trifonov, leader of the populist There is such a people party (ITN/European Conservatives and Reformists Group), part of the ruling coalition in Sofia, warned that Skopje would never enter the EU if it continued what he described as hostility toward its Bulgarian citizens.

“It’s not the name ‘Ivan Mihailov’ that bothers you – it’s the fact that Macedonian Bulgarians do exist,” Trifonov wrote on social media.

Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev called the verdict “categorically unacceptable”, highlighting that Georgievski is “one of the most prominent representatives of the Bulgarian community in the Republic of North Macedonia” and that his conviction demonstrates the judiciary is being used to suppress ethnic identity.

“It is absolutely unacceptable for a country that claims to be a functioning multiethnic democracy to punish open identification with the Bulgarian people and the honoring of Bulgarian symbols and literature with the threat of imprisonment,” Georgiev said.

He accused North Macedonian authorities of deliberately fostering an anti-Bulgarian atmosphere and using state institutions to marginalize and stigmatize ethnic Bulgarians – an approach that, according to him, violates European principles of self-determination, minority rights, and freedom of expression.

“The violations of the rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia are a fact that cannot be denied,” Georgiev stated, calling the sentence “yet another confirmation of the refusal of the authorities to guarantee the basic rights of this group of citizens”.

Political implications and questions in Brussels

The sentencing comes at a sensitive time in EU-Balkan relations. North Macedonia’s accession process has been stalled for years due to historical and identity disputes, first with Greece, and recently with Bulgaria.

A session of the joing historic commission, set up under the terms of the 2018 Agreement for Friendship, Good-neighbourly relations and Cooperation between Bulgaria and Macedonia (as the country was called then), was held on 12 June in Skopje, but reportedly ended without any results. Aon its agenda were proposals and recommendations regarding history textbooks for grade 7 in the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as possible joint celebrations.

“Our meeting was no different from the previous ones. The atmosphere was the best during lunch. But we do not agree on the essential issues that we need to debate. I cannot say that we have done anything useful,” commented Professor Angel Dimitrov, co-chair of the Commission from the Bulgarian side since May 2018.

While EU institutions have expressed hope that enlargement could be reinvigorated, North Macedonia is hardly helping improve its relations with its EU neighbour Bulgaria.

Moreover, recent revelations have cast a shadow over the European Parliament’s handling of North Macedonia’s accession dossier.

In the wake of the sentence against Ljupcho Georgievski, serious concerns have emerged regarding the role of the European Parliament and in particular, the work methods of Austrian MEP Thomas Waitz, who serves as the Parliament’s rapporteur on North Macedonia.

Bulgarian MEPs have accused him of “a lack of objectivity,” “undisclosed meetings,” “alignment with authorities in Skopje,” and “ignoring proposals related to the rights of the Bulgarian community.”

The European Parliament postponed the vote on its resolution on North Macedonia’s EU progress after the European People’s Party (EPP), influenced by Bulgarian MEPs, withdrew its support for the draft.

Waitz is alleged to have held over 30 meetings with North Macedonian government officials, while meetings with Bulgarian representatives have been either extremely limited or nonexistent. Bulgarian MEPs have called for his removal as rapporteur and for the appointment of a more neutral figure to lead the file on North Macedonia.

Caption: Videograb from the ceremony at the Presidency in 2023 in which Ljupcho Georgievski [R] was handed his Bulgarian citizenship decree by President Rumen Radev.