Fwd: MILS: Conference of a Society of Bulgarians in Macedonia
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Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 14:42:53 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Fwd: MILS: Conference of a Society of Bulgarians in Macedonia
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Greek Helsinki Monitor <[email protected]>
Fwd: MILS: Conference of a Society of Bulgarians in Macedonia
MILS NEWS
Skopje, 30th October 2000
FIREWORKS AND FIGHTS AT THE OPENING CONFERENCE OF THE OHRID SOCIETY
'RADKO'
Several smoke bombs caused anxiety and fights during the opening
conference of the controversial society 'Radko' in the Holiday Inn
Hotel in Skopje.
The beginning of the conference of the society named after Vancho
Mihajlov's nickname, Radko, did not anticipate any incidents. The
atmosphere of the conference, also attended by the Bulgarian
ambassador, Angel Dimitrov, warmed up after the hymn of Todor
Aleksandrov 'Rise Up the Sun of Liberty' was played in Bulgarian and
after the president of the society, Vladimir Paunkovski began his
speech in a mixed Macedonian and Bulgarian language. Two smoke bombs
were flung in the hall and about 70 participants at the meeting rushed
to the exit. Outside the hotel another smoke bomb exploded, which
caused additional chaos. The two boys who threw the bombs were caught
by the security and were brutally beaten up. They, as well as the
other two boys who set off a smoke bomb at the entrance of the
conference hall, managed to escape. Journalist Spase Shuplinovski was
attacked by supporters of the society and, as he said, by members of
VMRO-DPMNE present at the meeting. The police came after everything
settled down. No information so far has been issued by the Ministry of
Home Affairs.
When the smoke cleared, the meeting went on in the presence of the
police. Paunkovski talked about the life and the work of Vancho
Mihajlov and about the program of the society.
"The society is named 'Radko' because Vancho Mihajlov, his life, his
revolutionary activities, especially his cultural and publishing
activity are inextricably interwoven in the Macedonian history. The
principal goal of the society is to establish the cultural and the
historical identity of the Slav population of Macedonia, which has
always declared its Bulgarian descent down the centuries," Paunkovski
said. In his estimation , "the Serbian and the communist doctrine to
subdue the idea of the Bulgarian ethnic origin continues to be the
official politics of the Republic of Macedonia, which represents
slavery to Serbia for the Bulgarians in Macedonia. According to
Paunkovski, the society will attain its goals by way of publishing
books, a newspaper, by means of the electronic media and by opening
libraries. The opening conference was also attended by members of the
Bulgarian political party VMRO, by members of the Macedonian patriotic
organization from Canada (Gjorgji Mladenov), by the descendants of
Vancho Mihajlov's closest associates, by the Bulgarian ambassador to
Macedonia, Angel Dimitrov, by a historian from Sofia, Grigor Velev,
who is the author of "The Bulgarian National Doctrine" in which he
writes that Bulgaria is the only state in the world whose borders
divide Bulgaria from Bulgaria.
Numerous disputes appeared in the public when the society 'Radko' was
registered June 19 this year. The League for Democracy and lawyer
Jagnula Kunovska, initiated a procedure for the annulment of the
society from the court's register book. According to them, this
society is openly trying to spread the Bulgarian idea in Macedonia and
to establish the ideas of Vancho Mihajlov who dedicated his life to
working against the Macedonian sovereignty and insisted that Macedonia
should be conjoined to Bulgaria. Many Macedonian parties such as
VMRO-VMRO, SDSM, DA, DPM and the League for Democracy estimated the
society as an open provocation directed towards negation of the
Macedonian nation and towards Bulgarization of Macedonia. They also
demanded that the Bulgarian ambassador, Angel Dimitrov, should be
declared 'persona non grata'. VMRO-DPMNE denied any relation between
this party and the society 'Radko'. They accused SDSM of using the
society to score political points and to inflict political damage to
VMRO-DPMNE. The announcement of the Helsinki Committee condemns the
attack and the obstruction of the conference, which, according to
them, represents a breach of the basic human rights. In their opinion,
the attack on the journalist Shuplinovski represents violation of the
freedom of speech. Therefore, they requested of the state to take
measures to protect media and journalists, while intimidators should
be caught and punished.
MILS: Turmoil Following Conference of Society of Bulgarians in
Macedonia
MILS NEWS
Skopje, 31st October 2000
BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR DIMITROV RECEIVES WARNING ABOUT RADKO CASE
Yesterday, the Bulgarian ambassador to Macedonia, Angel Dimitrov, was
summoned by the Macedonian Ministry of Home Affairs because of his
attendance at the opening conference of the Radko society held on
Friday in the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje. The Deputy Minister, Viktor
Dimovski warned Ambassador Dimitrov that his act was inappropriate and
can be interpreted as a support to activities which do not contribute
to developing cooperation and good relations between the two
countries. `The presence of a high Bulgarian official at an event
intended to deny the Macedonian identity is not within the framework
of the usual diplomatic activities in the country which has offered
him hospitality,' said a representative of the Home Ministry.
The Macedonian Agency for Immigration condemned the scandal in the
Holiday Inn Hotel and the address of Gjorgji Mladenov, one of the
participants, who openly expressed his belief that Macedonia should be
conjoined to Bulgaria, thereby denying the existence of the Macedonian
nation, language and culture. The Agency demands that Mladenov should
be permanently forbidden to enter Macedonia. They consider him
mentally ill, thrown out of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization in
Canada due to his Bulgarian greater-state ideas. The claims of the
Agency have been confirmed by the leadership of the Macedonian
Patriotic Organization. Representatives of this organization said that
the statements given by Mladenov are his own views and they do not
reflect the Organization's official position. Most of the Macedonian
political parties assessed the ideas of the Radko society as
greater-state and fascist. The Socialist Party of Macedonia believes
that all those involved in the Radko case will manage to get away.
They demand that Prime Minister Georgievski should resign. MAAK-KP
announced a rally to be held tomorrow at the Macedonia Square with the
watchword `This is Macedonia and we are Macedonians'.The society Radko
scandal was tabled in the Parliament too. The MP from LDP, Petar
Goshev, even though continuously heckled by the Speaker of the
Parliament, Ilijaz Halimi, managed to lay out facts as to who was
Vancho Mihajlov and what kind of ideas he had working under his
pseudonym Radko. The public also condemned the attack on the
journalist Spase Shuplinovski at the hands of the society's
supporters. The police said that they had caught those who attacked
him and they would have to face charges. The same expects the boys who
set off the smoke bombs. They are still at liberty though.
Most of the independent media criticized the Macedonian state-owned
television and the daily `Nova Makedonija', which is controlled by the
governing parties, because of leaving too little room to report on the
scandal that upset Macedonia.
Balkan Human Rights List
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