President Iotova Meets Council of Europe Human Rights and Rule of Law Director Gianluca Esposito

Head of State Iliiana Iotova held a meeting today with the Director General for Human Rights and Rule of Law at the Secretariat of the Council of Europe, Gianluca Esposito, who is on a visit to Bulgaria, the Presidential press office announced on July 3. The Head of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Frédéric Dolt, also took part in the talks.

The meeting discussed constructive dialogue and Bulgaria’s commitment to implementing the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in the “OMO Ilinden v. Bulgaria” group of cases.

Iliiana Iotova stated that Bulgaria has created the necessary conditions to guarantee the right of association, having taken legislative, institutional and practical measures that facilitate citizens in the registration of associations. She reviewed the development of the issue from 2006 to the present day and noted the intensive and prolonged monitoring by the Committee of Ministers.

Iotova expressed expectations for the soon conclusion of the supervision of the execution of judgments, in view of the efforts made by Bulgaria and the implemented measures to liberalise the registration process.

“It is unacceptable for technical requirements to be linked to political interpretations,” the Head of State said.