The Bulgarian Criminal Code was amended in 2023 to include hate crimes motivated by bias against the victim's sexual orientation. The amendments also outline sentencing provisions for crimes committed out of racist or xenophobic motives, and crimes motivated by bias against sexual orientation. Harsher penalties were introduced for certain types of crimes, including murder, assault and abduction.
ODIHR recognizes Bulgaria's efforts to report information on hate crime information and statistics to ODIHR and to improve its existing legal framework to ensure that bias motivation can be effectively addressed. Based on the available information, ODIHR observes that Bulgaria has not reported statistics on hate crimes recorded by the police to ODIHR. In addition, ODIHR observes that Bulgaria would benefit from raising awareness and building the capacity of law enforcement and criminal justice officials to address hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States committed to promptly investigate hate crimes and ensure that the bias motivations are acknowledged. To that end, the given law enforcement body or bodies must, as a first step, record the bias motivations of hate crimes. Participating States have also committed to enacting specific, tailored legislation to combat hate crimes, providing for effective penalties that take into account the gravity of such crimes. ODIHR stands ready to support Bulgaria in meeting the relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as through further resources and tailored legislative advice.
🛈 Please note that the data in the charts above are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not be representative of the actual number of incidents affecting individual communities.
🛈 ODIHR no longer presents descriptions of property attacks in the incident tables below. Data on property attacks are presented in the breakdown charts above. One property attack may target multiple properties or involve multiple types of attack.