Nationalists Protest as Macedonia Bans Bulgarian License Plates

VMRO activists put up barbed wire on the Bulgarian-Macedonian border in protest agaist the Macedonia measure to ban foreign license plates. Photo by Trud

Dozens of activists of the Bulgarian nationalist party VMRO have staged a protest against a measure of the Macedonian government banning Bulgarian license plates.

The VMRO activists protested on the international road between Sofia and Skopje, close to the Macedonian border putting up barbed wire as a symbol of protest against the regulation of the authorities in Skopje.

According to the VMRO party, thousands of Macedonians (with or without Bulgarian passports) have bought cars in Bulgaria and have registered them in Sofia, Blagoevgrad or Kyustendil.

The Macedonian government is now forcing them to put Macedonian license plate in a procedure that costs EUR 1 200, said the Deputy Chair of VMRO Angel Dzhambazki.

"Buying and registering your car in Bulgaria is a sign of one's self-determination as a Bulgarian. This is why we are going to support our compatriots in Macedonia. As we speak, they are staging a protest rally in Skopje. The protests will continue until the Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski does not renounces this measure," Dzhambazki said.

The Macedonian paper Utrinski Vesnik has reported that the Macedonia government will not change its decision. According the newspaper there are at least 50 000 cars in Macedonia with foreign license plates, which means that changing them should generate some EUR 100 M. The deadline for that is September 30. Serbia introduced a similar measure in July.

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