In a telephone conversation French President Emmanuel Macron has told Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov that information about his words was untrue and that the French President has never criticized Bulgarian citizens, workers or institutions. On Facebook, Borisov commented that as Prime Minister of Bulgaria he would not allow anyone to offend the Bulgarian people and hoped that such situations would not emerge in the future. According to media reports on the matter, in an interview with a far-right magazine, Macron stated that he preferred legal migrants from Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire over illegal Ukrainian or Bulgarian networks. On this occasion, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva ordered the Bulgarian ambassador to Paris to deliver a protest note to the French Foreign Ministry.