Desecration of the Bulgarian Tourists’ Memorial in Ohrid

What happened: On 27.11.2020, in the morning, someone destroyed the memorial on the shore of the Ohrid Lake honouring the Bulgarian tourists who lost their lives during a journey on the Ilinden ship in an accident on 5.09.2009.

Brief description of the incident with bias indicators: In this incident the bias motive is national basis since the incident occurred because the memorial is honouring Bulgarian tourists, with the bias indicators being:

1. Pattern of previous incidents – previous desecration of memorials of similar nature;
2. Time of incident – right after the Bulgarian veto during the negotiation framework for EU accession of North Macedonia;
3. National basis – the memorial is honouring Bulgarian tourists.

Impact on the victims and the community: These types of incidents call into question the general safety in the country and the cohabitation among the different national, ethnic and linguistic groups in society.