The Macedonian Alliance for European Integration, which represents ethnic Macedonians in Albania, blames Bulgaria of trying to impose a Bulgarian national identity over this community.

According to MAEI, Bulgarian officials are distributing propaganda materials in schools in the region, which are meant to spread a Bulgarian historic narrative. In one instance, the materials were distributed in the “Elez Koci” school in the village of Ostreni, named after an activist killed by the Bulgarian army in 1916.

The Bulgarian Embassy in Tirana is taking advantage of the poverty of the Macedonian community in these areas to try to distort our history, MAEI said in a statement.