Iva M. case: Skopje summons Bulgaria's chargé d'affaires

North Macedonia's foreign ministry summoned the Bulgarian chargé d'affaires in Skopje and delivered a verbal demarche. The move was prompted by remarks by Bulgarian officials on the case of Iva M., the BTA news agency reported.

According to Skopje, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev made offensive and provocative comments. In an interview with a Bulgarian podcast, he said Bulgaria would not hand over Iva M. Ambassador Zhelyazko Radukov told broadcaster bTV the Bulgarian state had not been informed of her intention to leave North Macedonia and that the embassy learned of the case from the media. He would be extremely surprised if the authorities in Skopje had not known, given that her passports had been confiscated and a police patrol was stationed outside her home in Kochani.

Skopje regards the ambassador's words as interference in its internal affairs. The ministry said the provocations moved the dialogue away from the framework of good-neighbourly relations and that such conduct could require an institutional response under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.