Roads are closed for the peaceful celebration of Gotze
On Saturday, "Samoilova" and "Lazar Lichenoski" streets, which surround Skopje's Kale, will be completely closed. The goal is, as the Minister of Internal Affairs Oliver Spasovski repeated yesterday, to ensure a peaceful and dignified celebration.
Closing of the streets near the church and increased police presence, it was announced that about 150 people from Bulgaria would come, but also the display of a banner "Stand up Macedonian, action is needed, for the teacher who united the whole nation" by the fan group "Komiti". is the latest development of the events in connection with the celebration of the 151st anniversary of the birth of the Macedonian great Gotse Delchev, tomorrow, at his grave in the church "Sveti Spas" in Skopje.
The police strictly control the area around "Sveti Spas" and have closed the nearby streets to traffic since yesterday afternoon. On Saturday, "Samoilova" and "Lazar Lichenoski" streets, which surround Skopje's Kale, will be completely closed. The goal is, as the Minister of Internal Affairs Oliver Spasovski repeated yesterday, to ensure a peaceful and dignified celebration. He is categorical that no one will be allowed to insult Macedonia and the Macedonian people.
The government is organizing a state ceremonial event that will be attended by the entire state leadership, headed by President Stevo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski. Spasovski is adamant that night guards will not be allowed for the citizens, and the opposition parties report that their members and activists are being called to the police stations these days for informative interviews.
Spasovski: There is no need for Bulgarian policemen
Tensions for this event, which the Security Council declared a high-risk event, were caused by a group of Bulgarians, who announced that they would come in an organized manner to honor the "Bulgarian revolutionary Delchev". In order to prevent provocations or incidents, the police are expected to meet them tomorrow at the Macedonian-Bulgarian border and the convoy of cars, as they announced that they will arrive, to secure it along the way, but also the guests from Bulgaria themselves during their short stay in Macedonia.
Yesterday, Minister Spasovski repeated that today, at the border itself, they will decide whether they will ban someone from entering Macedonia. About the announcements that about 150 people will come from Bulgaria, he said that they are exchanging data with their colleagues from Sofia.
- The key for us will be whether any structures that want to organize intend to cause problems, to express disrespect to the citizens, to the state, and decisions will be made based on that. All options are open. After all, there are also legal grounds for that. The options will depend on the analysis that all of us at headquarters do and, in the end, the decision should be a function of a peaceful and dignified celebration with which we will show to the world that we know how to preserve stability and that we know how to celebrate with special respect days that are important for our history - Spasovski said yesterday in a guest appearance on MTV.
He added that there is no need for Bulgarian policemen to come to the rescue, as the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior offered yesterday, because "our Ministry of the Interior has sufficient capacities to guarantee stability and security".
- The police is fully prepared, not only for this but also for any event and occasion, to preserve the peace and stability of the state and its citizens. It is a top priority. There is no individual, group or party that can be stronger than the state and that should be clear to all of us. Second, there is a board that looks after the organization. All the delegations that want to lay flowers are announced, order will be introduced based on a plan from the Macedonian police and we will not have any problem - said Spasovski.
Pandov: Don't repeat the veneration of Mara Buneva
Aleksandar Pandov from the Patriotic Institute of VMRO-DPMNE, who announced a heroic guard at Delchev's grave on February 4, says in his last statement to the media that the party will do everything to celebrate the birthday honorably and with dignity. According to him, anyone who looks at Delchev with piety can come to the grave, but it is not permissible to have insults as was the case on January 13 at the honoring of Mara Buneva, when there were a series of inappropriate qualifications for Macedonia and Macedonians.
- We must not allow anyone to defame the revolutionaries. Delchev's grave is a holy place. I am convinced that many will come on Saturday, nobody is afraid of Oliver Spasovski anymore. We go there to celebrate the day, not to cause any problems - said Pandov, indicating that he expects the Ministry of the Interior to complete the work properly.
The fan group "Committee" announced with a banner that it will attend the celebration of Gotse Delchev's birthday and called the citizens "to action". During the Vardar - Partizan handball match, they took out a large banner with the text "Stand up Macedonian, action is needed, for the teacher who united the whole nation".
Declaration of the Bulgarian Assembly condemning the "violence against Macedonian Bulgarians"
With 184 votes "for" and one abstention, the Bulgarian National Assembly passed a declaration yesterday condemning "the violence against the Macedonian Bulgarians in the RSM, as well as the belittling of the problem of the rights and security of compatriots in the RSM". Sofia also condemns "hate speech and demands the fulfillment of the Friendship Agreement which the authorities in Skopje do not respect", reported the Bulgarian media.
The declaration adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament has nine points, which categorically condemn the occurrences and calls for violence "against Bulgarians, their organizations and clubs, and especially the attack on the Bulgarian Hristijan Pendikov". "Hate speech against local Bulgarians and Bulgaria" is also condemned, as well as its occurrence in the political, social and media spheres. The declaration expresses concern that the escalation of the anti-Bulgarian campaign in Macedonia may negatively affect the process of including Bulgarians in the Constitution, as well as opposition to changes in the Law on Associations and Foundations.
With the declaration, the deputies rejected "false and manipulative claims about the Bulgarian past in the social and political environment of the RSM" and stated that they consider such claims to incite hatred towards Bulgaria and Bulgarians.
Yesterday was the last working day of the Bulgarian parliament, which is being dissolved because Bulgaria is once again going to early parliamentary elections.
