Bulgarian Action Committees

The Bulgarian Action Committees in Macedonia were patriotic nationalist organizations of Bulgarians in Macedonia during 1941, emboldened by the invasion Yugoslavia by Nazi Germany, determined to end the Yugoslav (Serbian) rule in the region, perceived as oppressive by Macedonian Bulgarians and by the representatives of other communities or political tendencies in Vardar Macedonia. They were also encouraged by the friendly relations between Nazi Germany and Bulgaria, and by the hope that after the German Army swept through the Bulgarian one succeed it. The time of the Bulgarian Action Committees was a time witnessing an acute lack of authority. The Serbs in authority positions had fled most of the region, not afraid of the Germans, but primarily of reprisals from the local Bulgarian population. Only the Serbian authorities in Skopje and Bitola did not flee. The Bulgarians, specifically the Action Committees, sought to take control of the region for Bulgaria, laying the groundwork for Bulgarian rule. The Executive Committee of the organization was headed by: Stefan Stefanov from Kratovo, president, Spiro Kitinchev from Skopje, vice-president and Vasil Hadzhikimov from Štip (Novo selo), secretary. In Veles Bulgarian Action Committees received the active support by popular communist functionaries as Panko Brashnarov.
When the Yugoslav rule was replaced by German military administration, and then finally by Bulgarian rule, these goals were realized. On May 18, 1941, the German military command in Skopje officially handed over the administrative power to the Bulgarian state. However, once the region and administration were organized, the Action Committees became marginalized, and ultimately dissolved.