BNT: Vapcarov’s heirs do not agree that the Macedonian club in Blagoevgrad should bear his name

We have always claimed that we are Bulgarians because we were born from a Bulgarian mother and a Bulgarian father, says Vapcarov’s grandson.

The heirs of Nikola Vapcarov do not agree that the Macedonian club in Blagoevgrad, which should open on October 30, should bear his name, reports the Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

The claims that the brothers from Macedonia have are not justified because of all the documents we have and our self-awareness and feeling that we his relatives – I as a nephew, my sister as a niece and my father as a brother, have always claimed that we are Bulgarians because we were born from Bulgarian mother and Bulgarian father. And, in Vapcarov’s questionnaire, it was clearly written that he was of Bulgarian origin and of Bulgarian nationality, says Nikola Vapcarov, grandson of the poet.

In the text, BNT also reports statements from the initiators about the opening of the Macedonian club, stating that their main goal is for it to be a cultural bridge between Bulgaria and Macedonia.

We feel Macedonians and we want to form, through our ideas and initiatives, a new cultural space for interaction between the Bulgarian and Macedonian states, and between the Bulgarian and Macedonian people. Our other goal is for Bulgaria to finally recognize the existence of the Macedonian minority, which is an anomaly without precedent in Europe, says Atanas Maznev, according to whom Vapcarov was part of the Macedonian cultural circle.

The Council of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad, on the other hand, previously strongly opposed the opening of the club and the councilors voted for a declaration calling the Macedonian club an anti-Bulgarian provocation. However, the club is located on private property and does not require permission from the local authority.

At the opening, which should take place on Sunday, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski will not attend, nor will representatives of the Bulgarian government, although they have received invitations. VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski announced that he will attend the event.