Sofia, 6 February 2023 (MIA) – Bulgaria will send three power generators to three border crossings with North Macedonia on Monday, said Bulgarian Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev.

Demerdzhiev announced the donation of three generators on Saturday, during the marking of the 151st birth anniversary of Macedonian revolutionary Goce Delchev, following reports that Bulgarian citizens were not able to cross the border due to a failure of the system for checking personal documents as a result of an interruption in the power supply.

After last week’s meeting with his Macedonian colleague Oliver Spasovski, Demerdzhiev said he might hold a meeting by the end of the week with representatives of the Macedonian authorities, this time in Delchevo instead of Skopje.

In a media statement in Sofia, he said that dialogue with North Macedonia will continue, stressing that “violence and provocations should end because they breed more violence and provocations, and the vicious circle must be broken.”

“I want the Macedonian side to understand that the way to good-neighborly relations and to Europe is through actions and not words. When that happens, the relations between the two countries will move towards a direction we like, and which we are obliged to provide,” said Demerdzhiev.

He pointed out that he had not been given any proof there were people on the border on February 4 who acted in a radical manner.

“It is normal that people react when they see that vehicles entering Bulgaria are being processed, but not those moving in the other direction,” said Demerdzhiev and added there was no reason to stop people who wanted to visit Skopje in order to pay their respects. ad/ik/