A group of Bulgarian members of the European Parliament came out with a request that the EU responds to the assault on Bulgarian football fans during the Shkupi – Levski match on Thursday. One of the Levski fans was stabbed while trying to drive through Cair, a majority Albanian neighborhood in Skopje. Shkupi is supported by Albanian nationalist groups linked to First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi, and they were spoiling for a fight with the Levski fans ahead of the match.

Members of Parliament Andrey Kovatchev, Andrey Novakov, Eva Majdel, Asim Ademov, Emil Radev and Aleksandar Jordanov issued a request to the EU institutions get involved in the response to the stabbing.

We are facing serious violations of human rights driven by hatred and aggressive behavior toward the Bulgarians. We conclude that the policies of hatred toward Bulgaria, practiced for years by politicians from the Republic of Macedonia, have affected many citizens, the members of the European Parliament say in their letter, in which they remind the EU institutions of a number of previous attacks on Bulgarian groups in Macedonia.