Macedonians holding Bulgarian citizenship staged a demonstration at the Zlatarevo/Novo Selo border crossing between the two countries on Thursday to protest against what they see as a limitation of their rights by the authorities in Skopje. They were supported by members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Bulgarian National Movement (IMRO-BNM).

The protesters object to a new Macedonian law which requires them to re-register their motor vehicles and to replace their Bulgarian number plates by Macedonian ones. "The purpose of this law is to cause a problem to people who also hold Bulgarian citizenship. They are limiting our rights, but at the same time they are not touching those [Macedonians] who drive cars with Albanian, Serbian or other foreign number plates," said Ivan Boev, a resident of Ohrid, Southwestern Macedonia.

Mitko Georgiev of the Most (Bridge) Association said that the protest is a sign for Bulgaria to react, because 50,000 Macedonians holding Bulgarian passports are being repressed. He said the re-registration charges range between 800 and 2,000 euro.

IMRO-BNM Deputy Chair Kostadin Kostadinov said that letters will be sent to Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva and to the European Commission. "We believe that Macedonia should adopt the European vignette toll system, thus finding an easy and civilized way to fill its public purse, instead of discriminating against its citizens who hold Bulgarian passports," he said.

Source: BTA