There is systematic racial and ethnic violence and discrimination against Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia. This is stated in the State Department's report on human rights in 2023, BGNES reported. The document refers to the beatings and serious injuries inflicted on a Macedonian citizen who identifies himself as Bulgarian, as well as the closure of Bulgarian cultural clubs. 

''The minister of justice closed Bulgarian cultural clubs “Tsar Boris III” and “Ivan (Vanco) Mihajlov”, citing the 2022 law requiring organizations named after fascist supporters or collaborators to change their names. In February and on the recommendation of the Anti-Discrimination Commission, the prosecutor’s office in Bitola opened a preliminary investigation into the “Ivan (Vanco) Mihajlov” club on hate speech grounds.  The club’s president was charged with inciting ethnic and racial hate and intolerance and spreading racism and xenophobia’’, the State Department's report said.