Bulgarian Presidential Bidder Targets Voters in Macedonian Town

Pictured: a flier of Bulgarian nationalist presidential candidate Krasimir Karakachanov popping from a mail box in the Macedonian town of Stip. Screenshot from Macedonian TV Alpha

The "Macedonians with Bulgarian self-determination" in the town of Stip in Macedonia have been targeted by Krasimir Karakachanov, candidate for the Bulgarian Presidency from the nationalist party VMRO.

The campaign fliers and posters of Karakachanov and his running mate Daniela Simidchieva emerged in the town of Stip in central Macedonia on Sunday, attracting the attention of the major Macedonian media based in the capital Skopje.

The fliers dispersed in the Macedonian town urge the locals to vote in the Bulgarian Presidential elections on October 23, 2011, by stating, "You have dignity, be a patriot!"

"Stip is one of the towns in the Republic of Macedonia where a substantial number of people with Bulgarian self-consciousness reside. The town also features a number of residents holding Bulgarian citizenships," the VMRO party said in a statement to the media Sunday.

About 40 000 of Macedonians have acquired Bulgarian passports since 2002 on the grounds of "Bulgarian origin." For the purposes of naturalization, Bulgaria's government considers the Macedonians of Slavic origin to be entitled to claim ethnic Bulgarians for historical regions.

The Bulgarian VMRO political part sees itself as a descendant of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (VMORO / IMARO), which in late 19th and the first half of the 20th century fought for the liberation and autonomy of the territories of Macedonia, and their accession to Bulgaria.

The VMRO party considers the Macedonians to be ethnic Bulgarians, and VMRO leader Karakachanov is known for speaking out against "falsification" of Bulgarian history used to "create" a Macedonian nation by the authorities of the former Yugoslavia in order to dissociate the population of what is today the Republic of Macedonia with Bulgaria.

In their coverage of Karakachanov's campaign materials in Stip, Macedonia, for the Bulgarian elections, the Macedonian media generally do not negatively; their tone is neutral save for noting that the police are searching for those who placed the fliers and the posters.

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