Skopje, 21 November 2022 (MIA) – The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the overnight vandalism of culture club “Tsar Boris III” in Ohrid. “Such actions intentionally prevent the efforts to establish friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation as the guiding principles in Bulgaria-North Macedonia relations,” the Bulgarian MFA said in a press release. It adds that the names of the Bulgarian clubs do not represent a reason for such a campaign, noting that “the leader of the largest opposition party in Skopje has already openly called for urgent closure of the Bulgarian clubs only because they are Bulgarian, regardless of their name.” “We are certain that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia will have a timely and appropriate response to these events”, says the MFA. According to the ministry, the response of the authorities to this and other cases of hate crime will demonstrate the seriousness that the government in Skopje attaches to the building of good-neighborly relations and the EU accession process.