“It it is important for authorities in North Macedonia to state clearly that the case of Hristiyan Pendikov is a hate crime and not conventional crime. It is the result of a decades-long policy for instilling hatred towards Bulgarian in the Republic of North Macedonia and everything that is Bulgarian, said President Rumen Radev, speaking to journalists in Pernik on Friday, where he arrived for the start of the Surva International Festival of Masquarade Games.

"We expect the Macedonian Bulgarians to be included in the Constitution of North Macedonia as soon as possible," the Head of State said and added: "If the country continues to block Bulgarian participation in any form, it is blocking its own entry into the EU."

Regarding the mechanism for investigating the prosecutor-general adopted at first reading in parliament, Rumen Radev commented that if the changes were really a priority, they should have been discussed at the beginning of this parliament, not when its days were counted. As for the referendum on a presidential republic by the There is Such a People party, the President said that if he had intended to change the form of government, he would have said so himself.