The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) is preparing an appropriate diplomatic reaction to the decision of the Bulgarian authorities to impose a ten-year ban on the entry of lawyer Toni Menkinovski into Bulgaria, Macedonian Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski said Monday at a press conference.
Responding to a reporter’s question whether a protest note will be sent, Mucunski stressed that the state has always reacted in the past through appropriate diplomatic channels and that it will be further assessed which mechanism will be used in this specific case, expressing disappointment with the procedure of the European Union member state.
“I am negatively surprised by how a European Union member state treats one of our citizens who had one and only goal, which is to protect the rights of a group of citizens before European institutions. And therefore, of course, there will be an appropriate reaction. We have had similar situations in the past with other of our neighbors. We have always reacted through appropriate diplomatic channels, we will further assess the measure and mechanism within the institution, what measure and which mechanism we will use that we have at our disposal. But I am not only negatively surprised, but also deeply disappointed by the attitude of a member state of the European Union towards our citizens,” said FM Mucunski.
When asked whether a condemnation will be requested from the EU ambassador to the country and a reaction from Brussels, the minister emphasized that the priority is taking concrete actions by the state to protect the interests and rights of Macedonian citizens.
“The key is what actions we as a country will take. Because, at the end of the day, whether I give the political condemnation or not, the fact is that in the 21st century, repression is taking place against a person simply because he was probably doing his job. He is a lawyer. One of the primary obligations of a lawyer is, among other things, to protect those who believe that their human rights have been violated. And I do not want to believe that the European Union, in which we wish to become a full member, will stand on the side of such retrograde actions and mechanisms coming from our neighbor. Whether someone decides to condemn or not is within the domain of their personal decision-making,” FM Mucunski pointed out.
