Bulgaria Foreign Ministry: Macedonian Custody Trial Is Flawed

The Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry expresses deep concern over the way the custody trial in Macedonia of Bulgarian mother, Spaska Mitrova, was held.

The Ministry spokesperson defined the trial as non-transparent and held in the conditions of a very negative public environment, which included physical force, detention, and depriving the mother of her right to see her child.

The Bulgarian diplomats further say they do not accept the consistent refusal on the part of the Macedonian authorities to allow a representative of the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje to attend the proceedings in the light of the huge public interest about the case in both countries.

The declaration points out, Bulgaria is expecting the next instance to rule in concordance with the European principles of transparency and objectivity.

The Foreign Ministry states Bulgaria will continue to follow with great attention the process and would interpret it is a sign of the progress in the Macedonian judicial reform - an important criteria on which the EU perspective of our southern neighbor strongly depends.

Earlier Thursday, the Court in the Macedonian town of Gevgeli ruled to give custody rights to the father of 3-year old-Suzanna, daughter of Bulgarian Spaska Mitrova and Serbian Voislav Savic.

The case has been postponed several times already. Mitrova has been threatened with repression if she does not leave Macedonia.

The young woman, who lives in Macedonia, holds a Bulgarian passport and perceives herself as Bulgarian, was sentenced and served time in a Macedonian prison over charges she did not allow her husband to see Suzanna. She was released on parole, but then the parental rights case began. She has been the cause of diplomatic scandal between the two countries in 2009.

In mid-February Mitrova was allowed to see her 3-year-old daughter Suzanna for the first time in the last year and a half. She says she spent 5 hours with her and had to take her almost by force from the social home where the girl is placed.

On February 23, Bulgaria’s nationalist VMRO party reported that about 10 policemen in uniform broke in Mitrova's parents house and threatened her that if even one Bulgarian reporter is present at the Wednesday trial, she would have to live through horror much exceeding everything that has happened to her so far.