Changing values: Bulgaria's pan-European integration

Abstract

The purpose of this document is to explore the scope of the ECtHR’s influence over Bulgaria and establish a tangible connection between the Court’s professed values on democracy, equality and individual rights and their integration within the national identity and state sovereignty of Bulgaria as represented by the country’s legislative and judicial bodies. The study is based on case law from the ECtHR and its decisions in cases involving three main groups of discrimination – namely, racial, ethnic and unfair biases associated with minorities’ rights of gathering, expression and religious freedom. The focus of the thesis is to show the evolution of the Bulgarian national values and portray the implemented changes in the legislative and judicial systems of the country which occurred on the basis of recommendations originating from case rulings of the ECtHR and the subsequent actions taken by the sovereign institutions in the country. The paper tracks the gradual development and transition of national values related to minority discriminatory practices starting from the totalitarian regime of the twentieth century, spanning throughout the democracy transition period of the early 1990s and reaching to the post 2007 period when Bulgaria joined the European Union as a fully-fledged member.