Bulgaria’s Viktor Stoyanov, who is not allowed to enter North Macedonia indefinitely due to actions against the state, commented on a Facebook video by Kanal 5 journalist Aleksandar Vidinovski regarding the situation in Pustec in Albania, writing, “You’re saying there are no Bulgarians. One needs to be held criminally liable because there are 7,080 declared Bulgarians. Should you be detained in order for you to learn not to lie?”
North Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it most fiercely condemned the threats.
“Each form of pressure, threats or verbal attacks on journalists and media workers poses a threat also to free expression and media freedom and may easily endanger the work of journalists, which is of public interest,” it said, adding that it had informed Bulgarian counterparts through the mechanism to fight hate speech set up according to the Good-Neighbourliness Treaty in order for it to be recorded and for there to be proper action by relevant organs.