• Friday, 29 March 2024

PM Kovachevski urges Bulgaria to respect ECHR judgments

PM Kovachevski urges Bulgaria to respect ECHR judgments

Skopje, 24 March 2023 (MIA) – Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski reiterated his appeals to the Bulgarian authorities on Friday, urging them to respect the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg concerning the freedom of association of the Macedonians, which are yet to be implemented by Bulgaria.

 

 “We have always reacted when it comes to all citizens in any other country who identify themselves as Macedonians. There are Macedonians in almost all countries in the world, just as there are Macedonians in the U.S., in Germany, in Switzerland, there are also Macedonians in Bulgaria and in Greece, and they are entitled to all the rights of the other citizens, i.e., the right to self-determination. The ECHR has made judgments on this issue which Bulgaria is yet to implement so, once again, I call on the Bulgarian authorities to act in line with the Court’s judgments and the European legal norms on minorities, because Bulgaria is an EU member state, and these people are citizens of Bulgaria and at the same time citizens of the EU, who identify themselves as Macedonian. I urge that all rights be respected, just as the rights of all ethnic communities and individuals with different self-determination are respected in our society,” said Kovachevski.

 

When asked if he would request the recognition of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, Kovachevski said that when it comes to minority rights there are two types of constitutions.

 

 “According to the first type, the individual right to self-determination is realized collectively. Our Constitution is like this, where the ethnic communities are a part of the Constitution. Croatia has this type of Constitution as well; all ethnic communities in Croatian society are a part of the country’s Constitution. However, there are also countries whose Constitution dictates that the individual right to self-determination is realized individually. This is the type of Constitution in Bulgaria, and also in France. Which means that the right to individual self-determination exists in these countries, but it is realized in line with the laws that arise from this type of Constitution,” said the PM.

 

Which is why, Kovachevski added, I am cautiously saying that there are citizens in Bulgaria who identify themselves as Macedonians, who, in line with their constitutional order, the European standards, the rules of the European institutions, the Council of Europe, the ECHR, should be allowed to fulfill their rights just as all citizens who identify differently from the Macedonians in our country are given this right in line with our Constitution.

 

 “There are politicians in Bulgaria, there are politicians everywhere, who want to disrupt the relations between neighboring countries and the countries in the broader region. There are also individuals and propagandists who are working for the interests of third parties that don’t want to see the region in the EU. I believe that we should have institutional relations at the highest level with all of our neighbors, just as we do with Serbia, with Albania and with others. And this is why our institutions always act according to the rules of international law and based on good neighborly relations,” said Kovachevski. ad/nn/