Bulgaria may have found a new reason to hinder the process of North Macedonia’s accession to the European Union.
This time, the case is related to a criminal trial against Iva Mihaylova, who has dual Bulgarian and Macedonian citizenship, reports Euractiv.
The judicial process resumed on Monday in the city of Koçan. Mihaylova is accused of serious violations of road safety, after a traffic accident in October of last year in which a man lost his life.
She herself was seriously injured, while the court has kept both passports since the day after the accident.
Eight MPs from four Bulgarian political parties participated in the hearing, including representatives of the ruling Progressive Bulgaria party and the center-right GERB.
The case has also received attention at the EU level, as Bulgarian MEPs asked the European Commission to include this issue in the monitoring of the rule of law during the accession process of North Macedonia.
A spokesman for the European Commission said individual cases could be included in reports on the rule of law and enlargement, where they help assess the functioning of the judiciary.
Decisions on the admission of new countries to the EU are taken unanimously by member states, and Bulgaria has previously used this mechanism to condition North Macedonia on constitutional changes recognizing the Bulgarian minority.
One of the main legal issues is related to restrictions on Mihaylova’s freedom of movement.
Her lawyer, Naser Raufi, said that the court has not reviewed the travel ban measures since last October, although the law requires a review every two months. He added that the decisions were made only after the requests of the defense.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that travel restrictions must be individually justified and periodically reviewed by the court, not only after complaints from the affected person.
The Association of Judges of North Macedonia emphasized that the monitoring by civil society and the OSCE in Skopje is an important basis for EU evaluations, but warned that judicial independence must be protected in every procedure.
Meanwhile, protesters gathered outside the North Macedonian embassy, where Mihaylova’s father, Simeon Mihaylov, addressed the crowd.
