President of North Macedonia: Bulgaria offers us a Hitlerite and a Nazi for Rapprochement

North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski has personally joined the campaign against Bulgaria after the opening of the Ivan Mihailov Cultural Center in Bitola, BGNES reported.

"The opening of cultural centers throughout the democratic world leads to the rapprochement of peoples and their cultures, but to name a cultural site on a person who is a proven collaborator of the fascist regime of World War II does not serve this noble cause," Pendarovski said, on the occasion of yesterday's ceremony in Bitola, which was attended by many Bulgarian politicians from all parties.

"I do not dispute the good intentions of Prime Minister Petkov, but yesterday the Bulgarian delegation included representatives of the previous government in Sofia, who were the most vocal opponents of Macedonia's path to Europe. Their presence and statements minimized the messages of good neighborliness and cooperation from the Bulgarian Prime Minister", Pendarovski said and added:

"In 2017, the idea of ​​forming a historical commission was aimed at finding a compromise on historical events and personalities that should be celebrated together by both the Macedonian and Bulgarian people. Unfortunately, yesterday in Bitola an attempt was made to prove a collaborator of the Nazi regime to be presented as a bridge for rapprochement between the two countries."

"I am convinced that neither the Macedonian nor the Bulgarian people believe that the personality and the work of Ivan Mihailov can contribute in this direction" Stevo Pendarovski added.

Ivan (also known as Vanche and Vancho) Mihailov, was the person-point in the connection between the post-liberation history of Bulgaria and modern times....