"The secretary of the Bulgarian cultural club "Tsar Boris III"  in ohrid was beaten up last night", MEP Andrey Kovatchev wrote on Facebook, the BTA reported. The man was taken to hospital with a broken jaw. The three attackers have been identified. 

"Violence, hatred and discrimination must stop! I expect an immediate reaction from the authorities in both countries! This situation is intolerable. The political class, the media and academia have created an atmosphere of hatred. The European institutions will be informed! The police have been informed!", MEP Kovatchev further wrote.

Andrey Kovachev spoke on the phone with North Macedonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani. "To call yourself a Bulgarian in North Macedonia means to be savagely attacked and beaten. Now the attackers will be sentenced to suspended sentences like Lambe (Alabakovski) and the attacks will continue even more viciously! It's time Bulgaria took care of the Bulgarians outside their homeland!" the Bulgarian Cultural Club in Bitola "Ivan Mihailov" wrote on Facebook.