Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Krasimir Karakachanov told Saturday Radio Kanal 77, where Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev was a guest, that it is a historical fact that the Bulgarian government and tsar were allies of Germany and Hitler, but that does not mean that Bulgarians should be called fascists.

He also referred to the Vatasa massacre, which according to him did not happen because the population was Macedonian, but because of the war between the state and the communists. He says there was a similar case in central Bulgaria where Bulgarian police killed 12-13 children.

The Bulgarian government and the Bulgarian tsar were allies of Germany and Hitler. That is a historical fact. The authorities of Italy and the Croatian state were allies, and you do not call them fascists. I have been to Vatasa three times. The first time in 1994. I have read more documents about Vatasa than your colleagues. There are events like Vatasa in Jastrebino, in central Bulgaria, where the Bulgarian police killed 12-13 children, and it killed them not because they were Macedonians, but because it was a civil war. The state against the communists, not against the Macedonians. This is because the communists were at war with the state, and the state against the communists, and not against ethnic Macedonians or others. Vatasa is a tragic event from our common history, Karakachanov said.