OMO "Ilinden"

EFA Letter Regarding Breaches of Human Rights in Bulgaria

October 25, 2006

Dear President of the European Commission, Mr. Barroso,
Dear Commissioner on Elargement, Mr. Rehn,
To the Finnish presidency of the Council of Ministers,
President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the EP, To Mr Brok,
To the Bulgarian President and Prime Minister, To Georgi Parvanov and Sergei Stanishev,
To The ministers of Interior and Justice, To Yavor Simov and Sonya Momchilova,
To The Bulgarian Ambassador in Brussels and the PR to the EU, To Christo Gueorguiev, To Stanislav Daskalov,
To The Belgian Ambassador in Sofia, To Phillipe Beke,

I hereby write you an urgent letter concerning serious and repeated breaches in human rights unabeling an organisation from registering as a political party. Almost one year after the decision of the European Court of Human rights ordering the Bulgarian state to accept the registration of the party Omo Ilinden Pirin, the Bulgarian authorities and there representatives continue with even more enthousiasm than ever before to invent one obstacle after the other to make sure that a peacefull organisation will never get a legal personality as an actor in the Bulgarian democracy.

Although the Court in Strasburg had ordered the registration, The state forced the organisation to apply again under stricter rules. The Court in Sofia will soon decide on the case but the preparatory hearing on the 18th of October was a complete farce and it is to be expected that again the organisation will be refused to register.

We firmly believe that the EU should respect its own democratic principles if we want to stay the worlwide example of a peacefull integration model.

With Respect,

On behalf of Nelly Maes, President of EFA,

Gunther Dauwen, Director of EFA

0032/474/53.35.61

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