ln its reply to written question No. 616/2012 (Doc. 12935), the Committee of Ministers stated that religious freedom is protected under both Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 8 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
The Bulgarian national minority which is living in Serbia following the change of borders after the Peace Treaty of Neuilly is still deprived of the right to worship in its mother tongue. At the same time, the Romanian ethnic minority living there has gained the freedom of worship in its language. There should be no double standards in such cases.
Ms Iordanova
To ask the Committee of Ministers:
What specific steps have already been taken since 2013 or are going to be taken by the Committee of Ministers in order to guarantee vernacular worship for the Bulgarian national minority in the Republic of Serbia as was provided for the Romanian ethnic minority there?