According to recent reports, there have been disturbing accounts of racial and ethnic violence targeting Bulgarians in North Macedonia. The State Department's 2023 report on human rights has shed light on this issue, citing instances of beatings and severe injuries inflicted on individuals who identify as Bulgarian within the country. Additionally, the closure of Bulgarian cultural clubs such as "Tsar Boris III" and "Ivan (Vanco) Mihajlov" has sparked controversy, with the Minister of Justice attributing the shutdown to a law introduced in 2022 that mandates organizations named after fascist supporters or collaborators to change their names.
Furthermore, the report mentioned a specific incident where the prosecutor's office in Bitola initiated a preliminary investigation into the "Ivan (Vanco) Mihajlov" club on grounds of hate speech. The club's president faced charges of inciting ethnic and racial hate, intolerance, and spreading racism and xenophobia, following a recommendation from the Anti-Discrimination Commission. These developments have raised concerns about the prevalence of discrimination and violence against Bulgarians in North Macedonia, highlighting a pressing issue that requires attention from authorities and the international community.