Vasil Sterjovski, leader of the Macedonian MAEI party in Albania, warns that Bulgaria is working to assimilate the Macedonian community in Albania.

Bulgaria has an aggressive policy aimed at assimilating the Macedonians in Albania over the past years. Albania remain silent in face of this policy, and sometimes encourages it, as it wants to avoid being blocked by Bulgaria in its own EU accession process, Sterjkovski said in a TV interview.

Strejovski pointed to the fact that in the censuses in Albania, there were no citizens registering as ethnic Bulgarians. But that, since 2017, Bulgaria pressured Albania to declare that it has a Bulgarian minority. “This means advancing a policy of a Greater Bulgaria, and refusing to acknowledge the existence of the Macedonian nation. Bulgaria is now engaged in propaganda activities in Albania wherever Macedonians live”, Sterjovski added.