Skopje, 27 April 2023 (MIA) – The Council of Europe must punish Bulgaria and impose sanctions in order to impel the country to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), like all other countries who refuse to implement the judgments. This is the only way forward, said VMRO-DPMNE Vice-President and MP Aleksandar Nikoloski in his address Thursday to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

As it is clearly stated in the summary of this Report, he said, the implementation of the ECHR is a priority for the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe. Nikoloski stressed that all countries must implement, with goodwill and without delay, the final binding judgments of the ECHR. Additionally, with the goal of their timely and effective implementation, the countries must have effective national coordination mechanisms with adequate hierarchy and resources.

“I am going to talk about Bulgaria, which according to this report is the seventh country with the largest number of unsolved cases. Bulgaria has failed to implement a total of 166 ECHR judgments. Can you imagine that an EU member state, which is vetoing my country of Macedonia, is failing to implement the judgments of the ECHR while at the same time talking about human rights and the rule of law in other countries, how shameful is this! Additionally, in terms of leading cases under enhanced supervision, Bulgaria is sixth from the bottom. Out of all these cases, 16 concern the basic human rights of the Macedonians living in Bulgaria,” stressed Nikoloski.

According to VMRO-DPMNE, in his speech Nikoloski stressed that Bulgaria has not implemented a single one of the 16 judgments so far.

“Not a single one! This is a great undermining of the Court’s credibility, which is why the Council of Europe must act. Bulgaria is the second bad example in conditions of a war in Ukraine where the basic human rights are not respected. This must end,” said Nikoloski.

Photo: VMRO-DPMNE