The sentencing figures describe judicial conclusion of the case rather than issuance of a sentencing judgment – as such, they include four cases of acquittal.
In 2024, Article 320 of the Bulgarian Criminal Code (agitation to commit a crime) was amended to increase the prison sentence when such acts are "committed for racist, xenophobic or sexual orientation-related motives".
In 2024, the National Institute of Justice organized a remote training on the topic of hate speech, in which 18 prosecutors were trained.
ODIHR recognizes Bulgaria's efforts to report information on hate crime information and statistics to ODIHR. Based on the available information, ODIHR observes that Bulgaria’s hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. 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.
For 2024, ODIHR received reports of hate incidents in Bulgaria from the following civil society organizations:
- Office of the Grand Mufti in Bulgaria
- Organization of Jews in Bulgaria "Shalom"
- Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC)
- International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF)
To learn more about these organizations, visit the Contributors page.
All incidents submitted by the above organizations have been analysed by ODIHR. Those that are broadly considered to be hate crimes within the OSCE definition (criminal offence committed with a bias motive) are listed in the tables below according to the bias motivation category. Some incidents involved multiple biases and may be listed in multiple categories.
ODIHR’s insightsFor 2024, ODIHR received reports of 11 incidents that took place in Bulgaria in the following bias motivation categories: anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-Semitic and disability, and racist and xenophobic. In addition, a couple of incidents involved multiples bias motivations, such as racist and xenophobic and anti-Muslim, and racist and xenophobic and anti-Semitic. While only a low number of incidents were reported in Bulgaria, it can be noted that the anti-Semitic incidents were all threats and harassing behaviour, including one perpetrated by a hate group and one targeting a member of parliament of Jewish origin. In one incident, anti-Semitism intersected with a disability bias when a deaf Jewish man was targeted. In another incident, anti-Semitism intersected with a xenophobic bias motive when a group of Israeli tourists was targeted. An incident in which a Pomak Muslim man was targeted by a law enforcement officer was motivated by both anti-Muslim and racist bias. It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting relating to anti-Roma, anti-LGBTI, gender-based or disability hate incidents in Bulgaria. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here. |
Please note that incidents reported here are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not reflect the actual number of incidents or the most targeted communities in Bulgaria.
To address under-reporting, ODIHR encourages any civil society organizations or groups that monitor hate incidents in Bulgaria to report these to ODIHR at hatecrimereport@odihr.pl.
To export an Excel sheet with summaries of all incidents from Bulgaria click here and search by year and country.