The Bulgarians of Bosilegrad and Tsaribrod are victims of a historical injustice imposed after the Neuilly Dictate in 1919. They were torn away from their homeland and placed under foreign rule without their consent. Before this treaty, Serbia never had any claims to these lands, and the occupation itself was an act without legal basis. Today, our compatriots there are subjected to systematic assimilation, restriction of rights, and loss of their own identity.

WBO

If this injustice is not corrected, the Western Peripheries will continue to be depopulated and de-Bulgarized. These lands are an integral part of our history and culture, and their people are living proof of the Bulgarian spirit. If Bulgaria remains silent, we risk losing an entire generation that will not know its roots. The return of Bosilegrad and Tsaribrod will restore historical justice and protect our national memory.

Ethnic structure in the Western Outskirts

Since the Bosilegrad genocide in 1917 to the present day, our compatriots in the Western Peripheries have suffered humiliation, violence and attempts to erase their Bulgarian identity. A hundred and more years of injustice are enough. International law increasingly recognizes the right of peoples to preserve their cultural and national identity. Bulgaria must now put the issue before Europe and the world – not as a territorial demand, but as a restoration of justice and protection of human rights. It is time for the voice of the Bulgarians from the Western Peripheries to be heard and for them to be part of their homeland again.