The cases “OMO Ilinden” and “Ivanov and the others vs. Bulgaria” have been definitively closed with a resolution of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe considering that Strasbourg believes Bulgaria met all responsibilities arising from the verdicts reached by the European Court of Justice in 2005. In this way, the case of OMO Ilinden has been resolved in the same way as the case of OMO Ilinden-PIRIN two years ago, Dnevnik reports.

OMO Ilinden led by Jordan Kostadinov and Ivanov were paid damages of 6,800 euros and 2,000 euros respectively and that was one of the reasons why the Committee of Ministers concluded that Bulgaria carried out the Court’s verdict.

However, these lawsuits were primarily aiming to win recognition of the Macedonian national minority in Bulgaria and therefore these resolutions have a specific political relevance.

“Bulgaria failed to meet the conditions, particularly Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. We are not registered. Only when we become registered will the conditions be met,” Jordan Kostadinov, leader of OMO Ilinden said Sunday.

The two verdicts concerned the right to free and peaceful assembly of Macedonians in Bulgaria and their right to complain when the Bulgarian authorities banned their gatherings. In the final resolution, the Committee of Ministers says that Bulgaria breached the European Convention on Human Rights, which was determined by the Court in Strasbourg, by preventing and banning the free assembly of the organizations OMO Ilinden and OMO Ilinden-PIRIN, which argue for recognition of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, in the period from 1998 to 2003.