Bulgarian right-wingers protest in Serbian town

About 100 members of far-right Bulgarian party Attack and Bulgarian Democratic Party from the eastern Serbian town of Bosilegrad staged a protest yesterday. They protested against, as they claim, violation of Bulgarian ethnic minority’s rights in Serbia. Bulgarian right-wingers protest in Serbian town They sang nationalistic songs and carried banners saying “90 years of slavery – assimilation, concentration camps, genocide, killings” and “Down with the Neuilly “ – referring to the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1914 according to which municipalities of Bosilegrad and Dimitrovgrad were annexed to the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes. Representative of the Bulgarian Democratic Party Ivan Nikolov said at the rally that Bulgarians in Serbia did not want the change of borders but respect of their rights. “Bulgarians’ rights in Serbia are not threatened. Our ethnic minority can choose to go to school in their mother tongue, tradition and culture are also maintained. We only have economic problems here, just like in most parts of Serbia living is hard here,” said Bosilegrad Municipal President Vladimir Zaharijev. There were no incident at the protest but a large number of Bosilegrad police officers were present. However, nine buses carrying followers of the Attack party and its leader Vladimir Siderov, that were on their way to Bosilegrad, were denied entry into Serbia by the Serbian police. Siderov addressed citizens who gathered at the Ribarci-Otomani border crossing, saying that “he expect the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry to send a letter of protest and the Bulgarian government to review its unconditional support to Serbia’s EU accession”. “Serbia doesn’t deserve the EU membership,” he said and added that the incident was a violation of freedom of movement. Bulgarian FM Nikolai Mladenov “has invited the Serbian ambassador to come regarding the scandal at Bulgarian-Serbian border,” Bulgarian news agency Focus reported, quoting Siderov. The information, however, has not been confirmed by either Serbian Embassy in Sofia or the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry. The Attack followers also intended to stage a protest in front the Serbian embassy in Sofia yesterday but decided to postpone it since they did not get a permission to organize the protest.

Bulgarian right-wingers protest in Serbian town

They sang nationalistic songs and carried banners saying “90 years of slavery – assimilation, concentration camps, genocide, killings” and “Down with the Neuilly “ – referring to the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1914 according to which municipalities of Bosilegrad and Dimitrovgrad were annexed to the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes.

Representative of the Bulgarian Democratic Party Ivan Nikolov said at the rally that Bulgarians in Serbia did not want the change of borders but respect of their rights.

“Bulgarians’ rights in Serbia are not threatened. Our ethnic minority can choose to go to school in their mother tongue, tradition and culture are also maintained. We only have economic problems here, just like in most parts of Serbia living is hard here,” said Bosilegrad Municipal President Vladimir Zaharijev.

There were no incident at the protest but a large number of Bosilegrad police officers were present.

However, nine buses carrying followers of the Attack party and its leader Vladimir Siderov, that were on their way to Bosilegrad, were denied entry into Serbia by the Serbian police.

Siderov addressed citizens who gathered at the Ribarci-Otomani border crossing, saying that “he expect the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry to send a letter of protest and the Bulgarian government to review its unconditional support to Serbia’s EU accession”.

“Serbia doesn’t deserve the EU membership,” he said and added that the incident was a violation of freedom of movement.

Bulgarian FM Nikolai Mladenov “has invited the Serbian ambassador to come regarding the scandal at Bulgarian-Serbian border,” Bulgarian news agency Focus reported, quoting Siderov.

The information, however, has not been confirmed by either Serbian Embassy in Sofia or the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.

The Attack followers also intended to stage a protest in front the Serbian embassy in Sofia yesterday but decided to postpone it since they did not get a permission to organize the protest.