MIA issues national and international warrant for Iva Mihajlova

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) on October 13, 2026 issued a national and an international arrest warrant for 23-year-old Iva Mihajlova from Kochani, at the request of the Basic Court in Kochani. The court filed charges under Article 300, paragraph 4 and Article 297, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code.

Mihajlova is facing prosecution in North Macedonia over a traffic collision that resulted in fatalities. According to investigators, she left the country in the days before October 13, 2026 and crossed into Bulgaria without legal entry; she also holds active Bulgarian citizenship.

Court measures and detention

The Basic Court in Kochani earlier ordered precautionary measures — confiscation of her travel document and a ban on leaving the country — which authorities say she ignored. For that reason the court has ordered a thirty-day detention, which will take effect from the moment she is brought into custody.

Minister of Internal Affairs Panche Toshkovski told a television interviewer that Mihajlova left the country illegally and that an international warrant would be issued.

In a written statement the MIA said: "Through the joint contact centre with the Republic of Bulgaria checks were carried out and the Bulgarian border police provided information that there is no recorded legal entry of the named person into the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria," the Ministry of Internal Affairs said this afternoon.

Bulgarian media have reported that Mihajlova is in Sofia. Macedonian authorities say they will act on the international notice once her location is confirmed and extradition or other legal steps can be pursued.

Photo: press material from the event