Edited sentence: As a country that is preparing to enter the European Union, Bulgaria must respect its minorities’ human rights and put an end to its state-endorsed acts of oppression.HDIM 2006.In September activists from the newly formed party UMO Ilinden– PIRIN became targets of government harassment and media smear campaign when they wanted to collect signatures for registration of the party.MHRMI 2006.Macedonians in Bulgaria continuously face discrimination and intimidation when asserting their Ethnic Macedonian identity.Narodna Volja - Macedonian Newspaper for Theory, History, Culture and the Arts.ODIHR 2006.OSCE 2006.On 9 September officers from the Regional Security Service in Blagoevgrad detained one of the deputy chairpersons of the party and confiscated a list with more than 400 names of party members.Persons who declare Macedonian identity are routinely under surveillance by the secret police.Recommendations to the government of Bulgaria from OSCE -IHF are to recognize identity, stop harassment and discrimination and ensure freedom of assembly and association of Ethnic Macedonians, includeing putting an end to secret police monitoring of their activities.The Macedonian minority, has faced harassment and discrimination, including during at least two occasions when they wanted to organize public meetings in May and in September.The government of Bulgaria continues to deny Macedonian ethnic identity and the existence of the Macedonian minority on its territory