Macedonia denies alleged €10 million Bulgarian bribe to Venko Filipče

Social‑media posts claim that Bulgaria paid 10 million euros to Macedonian leader Venko Filipče to help insert Bulgaria into North Macedonia’s constitution. Searches of public records, financial documents, investigative files and official statements from Macedonian, Bulgarian and European Union bodies found no evidence of such a payment or any formal investigation. No European Parliament records or statements from any of the 17 Bulgarian MEPs mention the alleged bribe, and domestic and regional media have not reported the claim. The allegation therefore remains unsubstantiated.

The claim originated from a Facebook post that described a “Bulgarian euro‑deputy” allegedly stating the payment, but the post provides no source, and fact‑checkers could locate no corroborating information.