Through daily, mass protests, the Macedonian people gave the regime a resounding NO to the EU-backed, French-sponsored Bulgarian demands to completely abandon Macedonians' identity, language, culture and history, yet it still pushed through passing of the "French Proposal" (as it is known), all for a chance at negotiating potential EU membership*.

Following the European Union’s shocking support of Greece’s campaign to change the Republic of Macedonia’s name and eradicate Macedonians’ ethnic identity and history (a key point outlined in the “Prespa Agreement”), Bulgaria ramped up its own demands on Macedonians, also garnering EU support. The most notable, and brazen, form came with the “French Proposal”, named after Emmanuel Macron fully endorsed Bulgaria’s demands to eradicate Macedonians’ ethnic identity and history.

The European Union is compelled to condemn Bulgaria for blatantly violating the EU charter and the rights of Macedonians (which the European Court of Human Rights has on 14 occasions), and to take action to reprimand Bulgaria. Instead, it chose to follow its anti-Macedonian precedent, which was set with its endorsement of Greece's policy to change Macedonia's name to the highly offensive "North Macedonia" (designed to negate Macedonians' ethnic identity and hand the term "Macedonia" to Greece) and to deny the existence of the Macedonian minority in Greece, as well as the Macedonian nation, language, culture and history in its entirety.

Faisant preuve d’un mépris total de sa propre charte, l’UE a adopté la proposition de la France qui soutient pleinement la politique anti-macédonienne de la Bulgarie. Selon celle-ci, la Macédoine doit se conformer aux demandes de la Bulgarie pour adhérer à l’UE.*

Article by MHRMI President Bill Nicholov published in US anti-imperialism media outlet Covert Action Magazine (CAM), dedicated to exposing US covert action.   [Note from the Editors of Covert Action Magazine: CAM uses the name “Macedonia”—rather than the imposed “North Macedonia”—as we respect the Macedonian people’s right to self-determination and their own name, identity and history.]

The situation of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria worsened due to the aggravation in relations with the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgarian attempts to force Skopje to renounce the existence of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria and the media campaign conducted in Bulgaria in that regard. A climate of intolerance reigns in society against Macedonians and they are the object of hate speech, which is often given wide exposure through the media without being sanctioned by the institutions of the state and without encountering any condemnation by the wider society.

Watch. Share. TAKE ACTION. This is MHRMI's television commercial, aired on a major Canadian network, updated and released online. If Macedonians don't help ourselves, who will? Our donation page is: https://mhrmi.org/donations. Every contribution goes directly to helping crucial human rights projects in defence of our name, identity, language, culture and history. For example:

No. We hate US foreign policy because it's destroying our countries. Who are "we"? Macedonia and every country that the United States has ever meddled in. But US politicians turn everything into an "us (U.S.) vs them" scenario and always blame "the other". But take this scenario instead: You find out that someone hates or is mad at you for something that you're doing. What's the first thing you do? You don't yell and scream "You hate me because of my freedom!" You consider whether what you're doing is right and, if it's not, here's a novel idea (for US politicians): you stop doing it.

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International has launched several cases in the European Court of Human Rights, specifically: to secure the immediate release of Macedonian political prisoners jailed by the SDS/DUI regime in Macedonia; to secure immediate medical attention, thus far denied by the regime, for several political prisoners suffering urgent health issues; to hold the regime accountable for repeated, serious violations of human rights against Macedonians stemming from the forced name change; and to reverse the name change, which was illegally imposed through the "Prespa Agreement" and, in addition to violating multiple human rights conventions to which Macedonia has ratified, is in direct violation of Macedonian and international law, the Macedonian constitution, parliamentary rules and procedures, and thus, having no standing.

Member of Croatian Parliament and former MEP, Marijana Petir, said: "Nobody would tolerate the forced renaming of their country and redefinition of their identity. This should not be expected of Macedonians either. These are not the European values that we stand for. Macedonians must be allowed to embrace their name, culture, identity and history. I stand with Macedonia and Macedonians and call for my European colleagues to join me."