Information on Ilinden since the last election, including legal status, activities and policies [BGR11123]

There is little information currently available specific to the activities and policies of Ilinden since the Bulgarian national elections held in the fall of 1991. An April 1992 report from the BBC indicates that the Ilinden United Macedonian Organization is illegal and further notes that the organization, after being denied permission to hold a meeting to commemorate the anniversary of Yane Sandanski's death and being refused attendance at the Macedonian spring fair, tried to organize a rally in Melnik (22 Apr. 1992). A BBC report from November 1991 indicates that the Bulgarian Press alleged that the Communist government of Yugoslavia was involved in the Ilinden organization and that the Ilinden organization circulated a document demanding Bulgaria's withdrawal from the Pirin region (19 Nov. 1991). Please find these articles attached.

There is no further information currently available to the IRBDC on this topic.

References


BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 22 April 1992. "Prosecutor General Attends Macedonian Spring Fair." (NEXIS)

_____. 19 November 1991. "Relations With Yugoslavia in Brief." (NEXIS)

Human Rights Watch. December 1991. Human Rights Watch World Report 1992. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC), Ottawa. April 1991. Bulgaria: Political Parties and Groups.