The Macedonian border police did not allow the entry into the country of the Bulgarian MEP from GERB Andrey Kovachev, the deputy chairman of the EPP, Milen Vrabevski, as well as three other Bulgarians. All of them, as every year on May 6, traveled to participate in the memorial service at the Bulgarian military cemetery in Novo Selo, Strumica.
“We were not allowed to go to the traditional celebration of St. George’s Day in Novo selo, Strumica. For more than 10 years now, on St. George’s Day, I have been going to Novo selo, Macedonia, to our Bulgarian military cemetery. This year I also went there and to my great surprise and horror they did not let us in with the explanation that it was their decision not to let us in, but no one explained to us the reasons. We have a decree by which I, Milen Vrabevski and three other people were returned from the checkpoint,” said the MEP Andrey Kovachev.
According to him, Kovachev was not admitted to the Republic of North Macedonia for the first time.
“There has never been any problem, it’s absolutely the first time it’s happened – every year we go there, the celebration has always been very solemn. It will be this year too – with the Macedonian flag, with the Bulgarian flag, with the celebration of a funeral liturgy by Metropolitan Naum of Strumica, with the military attachés accredited in the RNM. The organizer of the celebration, Dr. Milen Vrabevski, was also not admitted,” Kovachev added.
He clarified that this act is against the interests of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The memorial, where the mortal remains of 71 Bulgarian soldiers were laid, is located not far from the town of Strumica, in the southeastern part of the RNM. This is one of 471 Bulgarian military cemeteries on the territory of today’s North Macedonia, where those who died in the Balkan, Second Balkan, and First World Wars are buried.
They originate from all regions of today’s Bulgaria and the territories taken from Bulgaria by the Treaty of Neuilly. Restored in 2006 with the funds of the “Bulgarian Memory” Foundation, the Military Memorial has turned from an abandoned military cemetery into a historical shrine, which in recent years has been visited by thousands who decided to pay their respects to the fallen Bulgarian soldiers.
Source: novinite
