Hristijan Mickoski responds to Rumen Radev: State that avoids enforcing judgments has no credibility on human rights
Mickoski says Bulgaria’s failure to implement dozens of ECHR rulings undermines its standing to raise the rights of the Bulgarian community.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski sharply rejected Bulgarian President Rumen Radev’s announcement that he will again raise the situation of the Bulgarian community in North Macedonia with the Council of Europe secretary general, Alen Berse, calling the move a repeated provocation and saying Sofia lacks the credibility to lecture others on human rights.
Key complaint: implementation of Strasbourg judgments
“At least a country that avoids implementing dozens of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has the least credibility to comment on human rights, especially since we do not have a judgment against the state that says we do not respect or in any way harm the human rights of citizens. Therefore, this should be approached carefully and not fall for it; that is their aim, to make us fall for it and respond with the same incendiary language, so that they can react on the international stage, because they see they are losing positions there,” Mickoski said.
Radev made his remark on the margins of the ninth summit of the European Political Community in Dublin, saying he would meet Alen Berse and again draw attention to what he described as insufficient steps by North Macedonian authorities to improve the situation of the Bulgarian community.
Mickoski framed the Bulgarian initiative as part of a broader pattern intended to provoke reciprocal reactions that could be used on the international stage. He argued that Sofia’s record on implementing European Court of Human Rights rulings undermines its moral authority to raise such complaints.
In September, Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Yotova spoke with Alen Berse in Strasbourg and stated that Sofia had implemented past recommendations, expressing hope that the Committee of Ministers’ supervision of the set of cases “OMO Ilinden and others v. Bulgaria” would soon end because the monitoring harms Bulgaria’s reputation.
The Committee of Ministers’ supervision concerns execution of European Court of Human Rights judgments related to freedom of association. According to documents submitted to the Council of Europe, none of the 14 judgments requiring Bulgaria to register Macedonian associations has been implemented.
Photo: press material from the event
