The Academic Council of Veliko Turnovo University has almost unanimously decided to remove Austrian Prof. Otto Kronsteiner's title of Doctor Honoris Causa. Only three members of the council abstained from voting in favour of the decision.

The news came on Monday, just days after the same university honoured triple jump Olympic champion Tereza Marinova with a student scholarship.

Earlier this year the Bulgarian press reported that Kronsteiner had made "a false step on the spring board" by the eccentric suggestion that Bulgarians should use the Latin alphabet. This outraged scholars and ordinary people even though it is no secret that many Bulgarians use the Latin alphabet for the Internet, as it is more convenient.

The Veliko Turnovo academics allegedly saw it as a threat to the university's identity. The university boasts of being the successor of the medieval "hesiastic" school and has a reputation as a centre for paleoslavic studies.

"Honouring a professor who preaches the Latin alphabet for Bulgarian language in favour of the extinction of minor languages in a university whose patron saints are the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet would be a blasphemy," said Prof. Ivan Radev, the initiator of the disgrace petition.

Under closer examination, it would appear that Kronsteiner is very much in support of minor European languages. In an article published in the Austrian newspaper Standard, Kronsteiner strongly criticized the Austrian government and the academic authorities for not funding lectureships in minor languages despite the European integration process. He also criticized the fact that Slavonic languages are being reduced to Russian.

In another highly controversial article, published on the Internet, Kronsteiner appears to be the last supporter of the idea that the Macedonian language is Bulgarian. Two years ago the professor started an "Austrian-Bulgarian Centre" in Salzburg and rented a large apartment in a castle that is being used by Benedictine monks.

Asked whether he had read any of Kronsteiner's works, Radev, who speaks only Bulgarian, reluctantly admitted that he had trusted the Bulgarian press.

Infamous for its ethnocentricity and obsolete Marxism, the university often uses scandals as public relations exercises.

The rector, Prof. Haralampiev, a language historian, swears that Kronsteiner remaines a good friend of the university but added that, in his opinion, "the Austrian should give back the toga and the manuscript certificate."

Two years ago an associate professor in Informatics suggested that Bill Gates should be nominated by the Academic Council for "Doctor Honoris Causa" of Veliko Turnovo University. It is rumored that he will now push his case for Bill Gates to be awarded the honour.