Yotova: Bulgaria made legal changes but documents are always missing for OMO "Ilinden Pirin" registration

Bulgarian President Iliyana Yotova said after a meeting with Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset in Strasbourg that she expects the Council's supervision of the execution of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgments related to OMO "Ilinden Pirin" to be concluded at the next session.

Yotova stated that, in coordination with the Agency for Registration, Bulgaria has adopted the legal amendments requested by international bodies to allow the organisation to register. She added, however, that Bulgarian authorities repeatedly find some document missing each time OMO "Ilinden Pirin" applies.

Background and pending judgments

The Council of Europe is responsible for supervising the implementation of judgments from the Strasbourg court. OMO "Ilinden Pirin" is one of several associations of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, but it is the largest and the most active litigant before the European Court of Human Rights and a frequent winner in those cases.

From a total of 16 favourable ECHR judgments on violations of the right of free association for Macedonians in Bulgaria, 11 concern OMO "Ilinden Pirin". The organisation won its first judgment in Strasbourg in 2001. Neither that ruling nor the subsequent ten victories have been executed by the Republic of Bulgaria to date. The other five judgments were obtained by the Macedonian Club for Ethnic Tolerance in Bulgaria and other applicants alleging violations of human rights by Bulgarian authorities.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has repeatedly called for clear guarantees from the Council of Europe that there is no problem with Macedonian identity, language and culture, and has urged Bulgaria to implement the Strasbourg court's judgments on the rights of Macedonians.

Photo: Bugarsko pretsedatelstvo)