Macedonian Human Rights Movement International is proud to announce that we have funded the opening of the Nikola Vaptsarov Macedonian Cultural Centre in Gorna Djumaja (renamed "Blagoevgrad" by Bulgaria), Pirin Macedonia. An official ceremony will take place on October 30, 2022. The cultural centre will be operated by the Macedonian Society for the Protection of Basic Human Rights, an organization which advocates for the oppressed Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, and will continue to be financed by Macedonian Human Rights Movement International.

The forced name change is a direct cause of the vast human rights violations being committed against Macedonians and, as such, MHRMI and Karakamisheva-Jovanovska seek to overturn it and reinstate Macedonia's name based on, and by invoking, the following Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, all of which the regime continuously violates:

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.

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.*

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.

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:

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."

Have you experienced anti-Macedonian hate? Sadly, the answer is yes. All Macedonians have. But Macedonian Human Rights Movement International is taking action. Report an incident now.