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

Migration wave along Bulgaria’s borders hits all-time low

“There is a consistent trend towards a drop in numbers and a curbing of the migration pressure,” Border Police Director, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, Director said in an interview for bTV. “When I took office, illegal migration had reached..

published on 3/10/25 10:15 AM

Constitutional Court to make public the results of the re-count of the votes at 2,204 polling stations

On 10 March, the Central Election Commission (CEC) is to hand the calculations from the election results over to the Constitutional Court. CEC Deputy Chair Mateva: Recalculation of election results should be ready by the end of next week..

published on 3/10/25 9:50 AM
Foreign Minister Georg Geigriev

Bulgaria to invest in EU-US strategic partnership, foreign minister says

“Bulgaria’s defence industry has a huge potential, we have to promote it,” said Foreign Minister Georg Geigriev in an interview with bTV. “I believe the strategic partnership between the EU and the US must continue,” he said and added that..

published on 3/10/25 8:55 AM