Bozhilov Did Not Say that Bulgaria Will Accuse Macedonians for the Bomb Threats in Bulgaria

The original statement of Bozhilov given for BNT shows that he spoke about something in a completely different context and did not say that Bulgaria will accuse Macedonians for the bomb threats there. Bozhilov is talking about pressing charges in Macedonia for the bomb threats in the country, which was also announced by the Minster of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski

We are fact-checking a post published on the social network Facebook (screenshot here) specifying that:

Bulgaria WILL ALSO ACCUSE MACEDONIANS for the bomb-threats there, claims the Director of Sofia Security Forum.

The shared text as part of the post titled: ”Bulgaria will also accuse Macedonians for the bomb-threats there, claims the Director of Sofia Security Forum”, states:

Not all threats close down schools. We are working on different versions, one of which is hybrid-threats related to Russia. Several Macedonians will also be accused related to one political party in the RNM, added Yordan Bozhilov.

The statement, however, directly attributed to Bozhilov, was never given in such a form and content. In other words, Bozhilov has never stated that Bulgaria will accuse Macedonians for bomb-threats there. According to the text of the post we are fact-checking, the statement was apparently given to BNT (Bulgarian National Television).

However, when checking the following link, starting from the 25th second of the original statement given by Bozhilov for BNT through a video-link, it becomes obvious that he stated something in a completely different context and did not say at all that Bulgaria will accuse Macedonians for the bomb-threats there.

Different versions are in question in North Macedonia as well. First, there was information about hybrid threats related to Russia. That information was published in Bulgaria too on one of the conferences we organized. But now, as far as I understood, several Macedonians will also be accused – Macedonian citizens – who are linked to a one of the political parties in Macedonia.

That is the context of the given statement. Clearly, Bozhilov is talking about the state of affairs with the bomb-threats in North Macedonia, not in Bulgaria. The fact that several Macedonian citizens will be accused for bomb-threats was already made known by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski in an interview given for Radio Free Europe.

In this specific case, the statement given by Bozhilov is a matter of spreading disinformation due to poor translation.

Bozhilov is talking about pressing charges in Macedonia for the bomb-threats in the coutry, something that was already announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski himself. It is not about accusing Macedonian citizens for bomb-threats in Bulgaria. Hence, due to all of the above-noted facts checked, we assess this post as untrue.

This article was developed within the framework of the project Promoting Access to Reliable News to Counter Disinformation, implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation. The article, that has been published on the Macedonian-language version of Truthmeter, was enabled with the support of the American non-profit foundation NED (National Endowment for Democracy). The contents of the article is the responsibility of the author and do not always reflect the positions of Metamorphosis Foundation, NED or their partners.

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