Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

European Human Rights Court declares another church lawsuit against Bulgaria illegitimate

Photo: European Human Rights Court

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has declared the complaint of the Orthodox Christian Church and Others v. Bulgaria inadmissible. The decision was made unanimously on March 6 and is final, the Ministry of Justice announced.

The reason for filing the case with the European Human Rights Court is the refusal of the Bulgarian courts to register the church founded by Hristo Petrov Sabev. The allegations are a violation of Art. 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) and Art. 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.

The Bulgarian courts point out that the name Orthodox Christian Church is similar to that of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC), may create confusion among believers and mislead, because the founders share the same religious beliefs and practices as the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The European Human Rights Court distinguishes the present case from the previous cases “Independent Orthodox Church and Zahariev v. Bulgaria” and “Bulgarian Orthodox Old Style Church and Others v. Bulgaria”, in which it considered that although the difference in the names is in one word, it is very specific and this sufficiently distinguishes them from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and does not create a risk of confusion among believers.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Border Police: Traffic on the Danube Bridge in Ruse is limited to one lane

Border Police remind that major repairs are underway on the Bulgarian section of the Danube Bridge in Ruse, and because of this, a temporary traffic organization has been implemented. Traffic is in one lane with a regulated flow, controlled by the..

published on 4/18/25 10:41 AM

Temperatures will drop, it will rain over Western and Central Bulgaria on Friday

On Friday, the minimum temperatures in Bulgaria will be from 7 to 12°C. In Sofia, it will be around 10°C. During the day, the cloudiness over the western and central regions will be broken and decrease to mostly sunny spells. After lunch, clouds will..

published on 4/17/25 7:25 PM
Marin Marinov

Washington Post: UN staffer Marin Marinov was killed in Israeli tank attack

The explosions at a UN guesthouse in Gaza on March 19, which killed Bulgarian UN staffer Marin Marinov and seriously injured five others, were most likely caused by two Israeli tank shells.  Marin Marinov is the Bulgarian who died in the attack..

published on 4/17/25 4:56 PM