Bulgaria honors the victims of the Bloody Christmas in 1945

Bulgaria honors the victims of the Bloody Christmas in the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 1945, when thousands of Macedonian Bulgarians were killed by the regime of Yugoslav dictator Tito due to their Bulgarian self-consciousness.

Politicians, public figures, representatives of the academic community and citizens attended the ceremony in front of the Sveta Nedelya Cathedral in Sofia. The event was also attended by National Assembly Speaker Natalia Kiselova. "We have gathered to mark a sad anniversary – 80 years since the death of our compatriots, who identified as Bulgarians and paid with their lives for it", said Natalia Kiselova, emphasizing that the European integration of the Balkan countries goes through the respect for human rights and the Copenhagen criteria.

''Today, the descendants of the doctrine in the name of which these murders were committed are seeking European legitimacy for the very same ideology, under which these crimes were carried out'', said  Ambassador Marin Raykov.