Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continues to deride Bulgaria's culture and history, said Bulgaria's MEP Andrey Kovachev on his website.

His comment was prompted by the information that the Macedonian Film Fund is sponsoring with half a million euro a film on the last king of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, Samuil.
"Judging by the available information, Macedonia would once again attempt a gross historical manipulation and will try to suggest that Tsar Samuil is a "Macedonian" king, in line with the current stance on Skopje", Kovachev wrote.

"Without denying the artistic freedom of the director Antonio Mitrikevski, his media statements disclose his real intentions, which have nothing to do neither with art, nor with history."

According to Kovachev, the replacement of established historical facts with artistic fiction was "outright propaganda, sponsored with taxpayers' money"."Placing made-up statements in Samuil's mouth, such as "I am king of the Holy Macedonian kingdom" is a cheap pathetic lie."