Demographics of the Ottoman Empire

"There are 3,500 Bulgarians in North Macedonia" - this is what the Minister of Foreign Affairs of RNM, Bujar Osmani, told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament. EPP MEP Andrey Kovachev objected to these numbers. The Bulgarian MEPs again raised the issue of mistreatment of our compatriots in the Balkan country.

As North Macedonia gears up for an important constitutional change, to include Bulgarians in the preamble as a constitutive people and so avoid repeated Bulgarian EU blockades, it has condemned a Bulgarian request to be "included" in the process as "scandalous".

Bulgarians in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China and Singapore have already voted in the early Bulgarian parliamentary elections, the spokesperson of the Central Election Commission, Rositsa Mateva said.

"Respecting the rights of Bulgarians in the 'Western regions' (eastern Serbia) is an element of the criteria we observe when it comes to Serbia's negotiations for membership in the European Union." This was stated by Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov to Milena Milotinova in the program "Brussels 1" on "BG on Air".

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.

Sofia has expressed "concern" after North Macedonia's Justice Minister, Krenar Loga, on Thursday banned a Bulgarian club from being named after a Bulgarian nationalist who became a Nazi collaborator, after a state commission in charge of advising on such issues recommended the move.

During the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Bosilegrad and its surroundings, the leaders of the local Bulgarians and members of the Cultural Information Center were detained and taken by the police. This was the first visit of a Serbian head of state in 97 years, Nova TV reported.

Bulgaria's parliament on Thursday adopted a declaration condemning the recent attack on a Bulgarian activist in neighbouring North Macedonia, an alleged "anti-Bulgarian campaign" in the country and warning that this could derail Skopje's EU integration.

"Today you will see the first step of a process called the unification of good forces. All democratic communities, parties, people with causes, with the idea of Bulgaria being a prosperous country, we are starting the great unification." This was said by the leader of "We Continue the Change" Kiril Petkov.

Bulgaria will demand with a note to provide access to people traveling to North Macedonia for the worshiping of the Gotse Delchev memorial on February 4. Representatives of the Bulgarian embassy there will also take part in the celebrations.