No amount of appeals for restraint in Macedonian-Bulgarian relations to prevent escalation after the beating of Ohridian Hristijan Pendikov help. On the recommendation of the President Stevo Pendarovski, in Skopje they are preparing on February 4 to ban the entry of the Bulgarian nationalists, led by the MEP Angel Dzambaski, who from Sofia yesterday threatened the Macedonian head of state with assassination and said that he would come to the commemoration of the 151st anniversary of the birth of the revolutionary Gotse Delchev. The Security Council assessed this event as a high security risk, because the citizens are organizing a vigil in the "Holy Savior" church to prevent "someone from celebrating Delchev as a Bulgarian". Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski announced yesterday that the security institutions will act on the recommendations of the Council and will ban the entry of all foreign citizens if it is determined that they are a threat to public order, national security or international relations.

- Everything that is under the authority of the Government will be done in order to guarantee a peaceful and dignified celebration of the birthday of the great Gotse Delchev. The specific activities are exclusively under the competence of the Ministry of the Interior. For that person, regardless of whether he is a politician or not, the procedure is carried out and he is not allowed to enter the country - said the prime minister and condemned all those who spread unrest and provocations for disrupting Macedonian-Bulgarian relations. At yesterday's session of the Government, on the other hand, no decisions were made to ban the entry of persons from Bulgaria.

Spasovski: On February 4, we will know if someone will be sent back to the border

Whether someone will be sent back to the border, according to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski, will be known on the day, February 4. To a journalist's question - why the proposals to declare undesirable persons were not accepted, Spasovski was determined that the top priority will be to preserve peace, stability and public order, and because this is not good for political relations within the state and between neighbors .

- We know that we always have radical structures that, due to personal or other interests, want to disrupt that process of stabilization of relations. On the other hand, we must not allow the security of our citizens to be compromised. The government discussed this topic yesterday, tasked the Ministry of the Interior to take responsibility for preserving security and stability in cooperation with the National Security Agency - said Spasovski.

He informed that the Ministry of the Interior exchanges information with the NSA and the security services, and based on that, it will make decisions in every respect. According to him, all those data and information are part of the analyzes that are done, and for every decision there should be a time and moment when it will be made.

- First and foremost is protection of peace and security and most importantly - protection of our national interest, identity, our right to self-determination and the dignity of the Macedonian people and Macedonian citizens - said Spasovski.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani said yesterday that in Macedonia there are always factors that want to distract it from the path of the EU and keep it in a permanent crisis, because then third factors from outside have their best influence.

– Our task is not to act on an emotional basis. We must coolly perceive our perspective and interest. In this direction, the citizens should have no doubt that the political parties in the Government, regardless of ethnicity, are united in the protection of the national interests of the Macedonian people and the Albanians and others and the state as a whole - said Osmani.

Regarding the bans on the entry of people who offend, Osmani said that we should introduce a principle that anyone who disputes the existence of the Macedonian people or shows territorial claims in RS Macedonia should be banned from further entry on the same day.

He confirmed that regarding the incident with Pendikov, the Bulgarian authorities have already sent letters to all international organizations, explaining that a severe policy of state discrimination is being conducted here, and our task, he added, is not to convince Bulgaria to change its position, but rather that Bulgaria not succeed in convincing the EU of its views, that is, for us to show our arguments regarding what is happening here.

Zaharieva demands a sharp reaction

In Bulgaria, on the other hand, radical statements are being made against Macedonia, and there are calls to return the veto. The president of the radical party "Prerodba" Kostadin Kostadinov believes that Bulgaria must not bow down and respect, as he says, the ultimatum set by Skopje.

– This arrogance must be put to an end. If the RSM in its form becomes a member of the EU, every God's day in Brussels we will face Macedonian provocations. They want us to deny our own history - says Kostadinov.

According to him, a huge part of the people in Macedonia have Bulgarian self-awareness.

- If Bulgarian sympathies were not so great in RS Macedonia, there would not be so many Bulgarian clubs. There are also people in Bulgaria who feel they are Macedonians, but has anyone ever heard a single word against them, hate speech? A few hundred people who think they are Macedonians are not a threat, but in RSM there are hundreds of thousands of people with whom we get along and make friends. It is this friendship that the RSM government wants to destroy - he said.

The former minister and president of the Commission for Foreign Policy in the Bulgarian Assembly, Ekaterina Zaharieva, says that "the aggression against Macedonian Bulgarians is taking place under the benevolent gaze of the authorities in Macedonia."

- Bulgaria must have a very definite and sharp reaction to President Pendarovski's statement. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that he has made harsh statements that do not help the development of bilateral relations. I strongly hope that the Macedonian government will not respect his request, because it will escalate bilateral relations much more. This will serve those Bulgarian politicians who do not want to let them into the RSM territory. Some of them also do not help to normalize relations - says Zaharieva, who thinks it is good that Minister Osmani apologized for the beating of Pendikov, but emphasizes that no apology came from the Macedonian Prime Minister.

Djambaski threatened Pendarovski with assassination

The Bulgarian radical from VMRO-BND and MEP Angel Dzambaski told President Stevo Pendarovski that in the past there were attempts to ban VMRO leaders from entering Macedonia and told him that the last such example was with the Yugoslav king Aleksandar Karađorđević. Djambaski announced that he will come to Skopje on February 4.

Asked if he recognized himself in the description of Pendarovski, who asked the Government to make a decision to ban the entry of a Bulgarian MEP, Dzambaski answered that in that description he recognizes every Bulgarian who represents the rights and interests of Bulgarians in Macedonia.

- What does such a ban represent for us? Let me tell Stevo Pendarovski, called Stevo the Comintern, and that in the past others also tried to ban VMRO leaders from entering Macedonia, and the last such example is with the Yugoslav, Serbian king Aleksandar Karađorđević. If they try to ban me from entering Macedonia, let them look at history and learn from it - said Dzambaski in an interview with the Bulgarian television Nova.

When asked if he planned to come to Skopje on February 4 together with a larger group of people to mark the 151st anniversary of the birth of Gotse Delchev Dzambaski confirmed.

- I didn't mean to go to Macedonia, I had other plans. But now, how can I refuse such a kind invitation - he said.

King Karađorđević was assassinated in Marseille, by Vlado Chernozemski, by order of VMRO on October 9, 1934.