Yugoslav Macedonia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) defined as unprincipled and tendentious the decision of the authorities in North Macedonia to erase from the central register the Bulgarian association "Ivan Mihailov" Cultural Center in Bitola.

North Macedonia's government has ordered heightened security on February 4, when the country celebrates 151 years since the birth of its biggest hero, the Ottoman-era revolutionary Goce Delcev.

Early this morning, the "Ivan Mihailov" Cultural Center in the town of Bitola, in the Republic of North Macedonia, was set on fire.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev made a sharp statement to the authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia. He said, "it was high time the anti-Bulgarian ideology swirling in our neighboring country to stop."

Accusations against Bulgaria of provocation and calls for the suspension of the Good Neighborly Relations Agreement were voiced by Macedonian politicians and members of the public after the visit of Vice President Iliana Yotova and Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to Bitola last week, BGNES reported.

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.

Amid silence from officials in Athens and Skopje, most media in both countries have speculated that the latest ideas suggested by the UN mediator Matthew Nimetz during the last round of talks in New York on January 17 contain five alternatives for a new name for Macedonia for international use.

A website in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Thursday published the five names it claims United Nations negotiator Matthew Nimetz brought to table in talks the previous day between representatives from Athens and Skopje.