BULGARIA

Letter of the Prime Minister of the Republic Of Bulgaria, Mr. Ivan Kostov to the Founder and Director of the Rutherford Institute, Mr. Whitehead as an answer to his inquiry:

Dear Mr. Whitehead,

I would like to assure you that the Bulgarian government is fully committed to the implementation of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, including the freedom of choice of religious belief and observance. Isolated and rare cases of religious intolerance should not be generalized and cannot be linked in any way to the Bulgarian state's attitude toward the religious communities.

As far as the facts mentioned by you in respect to the last four months are concerned, I would like to bring to your attention the following considerations:

The state cannot interfere with the editorial polices of the private television network. In connection with the campaign against Jehovah's Witnesses pursued by the privately owned SKAT TV company of the city of Bourgas, officials of the Religious Directorate held a joint seminar on religious rights and freedoms with the district administration. The seminar included a meeting between the Director of the Religious Directorate, Mr. Lubomir Mladenov, and representatives of SKAT with a view to putting an end to this campaign. I believe that after the completition of the anticipated registration of Jehovah's Witnesses there will be no further problems of this kind in Bulgaria.

The Alternate National Service is in the final stage of its passage in the National Assembly. The reason for its delay was the absence until now of such legislation in Bulgaria and the desire to adopt a truly modern and democratic law.

As far as the protest of residents of the Zapad district of the City of Plovdiv is concerned, in its core appear to be misunderstanding between generations rather than an act of particular religious intolerance.

The views expressed by the participants in a meeting on religion which took place in early April, reflect the confessional view of a group of Orthodox theologians and in no way reflect the policy of the state in respect to human rights and freedom.

In reference to the act of vandalism against the office of the Bulgarian Church of God, the Religious Directorate held a meeting with the Church's Head, the Rev. Pavel Ignatov. He regarded the incident as insignificant and hence did not file a complaint either with the Religious Directorate or the local police department.

No state institution has banned a visit by the US preacher Schambach. It is true though, that the Religious Directorate does regard a second visit by Rev. Schambach undesirable. At a press conference given by him in Sofia in 1997 he referred to the Bulgarians as "pagans" causing distress in society and even creating condition for public disorder.

Representatives of the traditional evangelical churches in Bulgaria have also expressed the view that a second mission by the Rev. Schambach would be inappropriate. I would also like to mention here that Christianity in Bulgaria has a history of over 1000 years.

All steps undertaken by the government of the Republic of Bulgaria in the sphere of religion since 1997 have been directed at the effective guarantying of the freedom of choice of religious belief and have won praise from a number of international religious organizations. PACE's observers for Bulgaria also agree with this assessment.

Ivan Kostov

Prime Minister