Burgas Bulgaria

In August 1999, the Mormon Church in Burgas was vandalized when stones were thrown through two of the church windows. In October 1999, in Kotel, a group of youths who claimed to be members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) political party chased a representative of the Lutheran Church and his family from the home in which there were staying. In December 1999, the Zion Christian Church in Stara Zagora was vandalized with hate graffiti. ...

There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. In contrast to earlier practice, there were no reported instances during the period covered by this report of any direct government, police, or societal harassment against religious workers or worshippers during the practice or propogation of their faith. The Parliament refrained from enacting a proposed draft law regulating religious denominations, which had created serious religious freedom concerns. However, there was a trend during the period covered by this report toward the enactment of new ordinances in a number of cities (including Burgas, Pleven, and Stara Zagora) aimed at severely curtailing religious freedom rights. ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

Legal/Policy FrameworkThe Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricts this right in practice for some non-Orthodox religious groups. The Constitution designates Eastern Orthodox Christianity as the "traditional" religion. The Government provides financial support for the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as for several other religious communities perceived as holding historic places in society, such as the Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Jewish faiths, which also are considered "traditional." These groups generally benefit from a relatively high degree of governmental and societal tolerance. A new law on religion, known as the Confessions Act, was approved by Parliament on December 22, 2002. It entered into force 1 week later, replacing an outdated religion law dating back to 1949. Religious and human rights ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

Although in previous years a few municipalities passed ordinances that aimed to curtail religious practices, the Government subsequently suspended these ordinances. However, the City Council in Burgas continued to refuse to register the local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the fact that they were registered by the national Government. ...

During the year, Roma protested after government-owned local electricity companies demanded the payment of large unpaid bills that residents of some Roma communities had accumulated over recent years. The unrest began in February when Roma in Plovdiv protested a decision by the local electricity company to cut off power to the mainly Romani neighborhood of Stolipinovo because of unpaid bills of approximately $3 million (6 million leva). Other places affected included districts in and around Burgas, where unpaid bills amounted to approximately $120,000 (240,000 leva), and Sliven. In Sliven many Roma had not paid their electricity bills for 4 or 5 years. In the northwestern city of Vidin, where it was eventually agreed, as elsewhere, that a portion of Government welfare payments would go directly to the local electric company, Roma protested that they would no longer be receiving that money in cash. There were reports that failure to collect electricity bills was considered ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

Certain localities like Burgas have been consistently hostile to nontraditional groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses. In the past under the 1949 Religion Law, the Burgas municipal council rejected the registration application of the local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses. Since the passage of the 2002 Confessions Act, the Burgas municipality maintains that no follow-up registration application has been received from Jehovah's Witnesses. The locally elected municipal authorities in Burgas, responding to public demonstrations in 2002 against a Jehovah's Witnesses prayer house being built too close to a public school, used their "public order" powers to stop construction of the prayer house. The Religious Denominations Directorate of the Council of Ministers supported an appeal to the regional authorities. Construction of the building is still pending, partly because the municipality invoked the local ordinance limiting places of worship to religious organizations' o ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

The legal requirement that groups whose activities have a religious element register with the Council of Ministers restricted the activities of some religious groups prior to or in the absence of registration. Affected groups included the Unification Church and the Church of the Nazarene (which has tried repeatedly to register for more than 6 years). Furthermore several municipal governments, including those of Burgas, Plovdiv, Pleven, Gorna Oryahovitsa, and Stara Zagora, established local registration requirements or adopted other restrictive laws curtailing the free practice of religious activities, often in contravention of the country's law. For example, a regulation passed by the Sofia municipality in February 1999 forbids references to miracles and healing during religious services, a provision that many fear may be employed as a pretext to ban or interrupt services by charismatic evangelical groups. The City Council in Burgas maintained its refusal to register the local branch o ... [Read More]

The Future of NATO

At Burgas, Bulgaria provides basing for U.S. transport aircraft supplying Operation Enduring Freedom. Bulgaria also sent an Nuclear Biological and Chemical decontamination unit to Afghanistan. ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

The Law on Religious Confessions took effect in 2002 to replace the universally unpopular Communist-created law of 1949. Religious and human rights groups have strongly criticized the law for the preferential treatment given to the BOC and for provisions that appear to take sides in what many see as an internal Church conflict. Under the new law, all religious groups, with the exception of the BOC, must register with the Sofia Municipal Court before they can practice their beliefs in public. The BHC also expressed concern at the requirement for groups to submit a statement of beliefs when applying for registration or re-registration, stating that this constituted an infringement on their freedom of religion. Even when they were registered nationally, some religious groups experienced problems with registering local branches, particularly Jehovah's Witnesses in Burgas. ... [Read More]

NATO Enlargement

At Burgas, Bulgaria provides basing for U.S. transport aircraft supplying Operation Enduring Freedom. Bulgaria also sent an Nuclear Biological and Chemical decontamination unit to Afghanistan. ... [Read More]

NATO Enlargement

But there is another reason, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps nothing captures it better than a story about the head of the Iraqi embassy in Bulgaria. Earlier this month, as the U.S. began to move its forces to the Bulgarian airfield of Burgas, the Iraqi diplomat traveled there. Standing outside the airbase, the Iraqi told a group of reporters that if the United States took military action in Iraq, then Bulgaria and the base at Burgas would be a target for Iraqi military strikes. When the Bulgarian Minister of Defense was asked whether he was concerned about this threat, he responded: "This is the normal statement of an ambassador from a terrorist state." And the Minister added, "He will not be an ambassador when the regime in Iraq is changed." ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

Frequent bus and railway service link Sofia with the Black Sea resorts of Varna and Burgas, as well as with other major Bulgarian cities. Regional TransportationLast Updated:  12/2/2003 11:14 AM  ... [Read More]