A delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited Bulgaria from 8 to 12 June 2026 as the first step in the preparation of a monitoring report. During the visit, which was carried out within the framework of ECRI’s seventh country monitoring cycle, ECRI’s delegation gathered information on preventing and combating hate speech and hate crime, on ensuring equal treatment and inclusion in education and healthcare.

The ECRI delegation met with representatives of the Government, including relevant bodies operating under different ministries, such as the police, as well as with the Commission for Protection against Discrimination and the Ombudsman.

In the course of the visit to Bulgaria, ECRI’s delegation also met civil society actors and persons belonging to groups of concern to ECRI, as well as representatives of international organisations. In addition, the delegation met with municipal authorities in the capital Sofia and in the town of Kyustendil, where the delegation visited the local hospital. It also met with members of local Roma community organisations in both places.

Following this visit, ECRI will adopt a report in which it will make a new set of recommendations on measures to be taken by the authorities to address racism and intolerance in the country. The implementation of two priority recommendations will be reviewed after 18 months from the publication of the report as part of ECRI’s interim follow-up procedure.

In its previous, sixth-cycle report on Bulgaria, among other recommendations, ECRI recommended that the Bulgarian authorities establish within the police dedicated hate-crime units to work closely with the communities most affected by hate-motivated violence.

It also recommended that the Bulgarian authorities increase the number and scale up the successful work of Roma mediators, including in the areas of health and education.

For more information on previous ECRI reports on Bulgaria, please visit ECRI’s country monitoring page.