Macedonian Court Grants Custody to Bulgarian Mother Mitrova

The court's ruling is final.

The news was reported by MEP Dimitar Stoyanov of Bulgaria's far-right, nationalist Ataka party. Mitrova, the mother of the three-year-old girl at the centre of the case, currently works as Ataka's advisor in the European Parliament.

Stoyanov says the ruling is a huge victory for the cause of Bulgarians in Macedonia, adding the girl will be reunited with her mother very soon.

Mitrova, who lives in Macedonia but holds a Bulgarian passport and considers herself to be Bulgarian, said she is elated by the outcome of her four-year-long saga. "Justice was finally served," she was quoted as saying.

Stoyanov further vowed his party was to continue the fight for Bulgarians in Macedonia.

Mitrova became known publicly after being sentenced in Macedonia to three months' imprisonment for refusing to allow her husband to see their daughter.

Her case has been a source of controversy in both countries. Mitrova complained that she was treated poorly because she publicly considers herself a Bulgarian. As the trial unfolded, Sofia put pressure on Skopje to release ‘its’ citizen, and Macedonian media were accused of hate speech against Bulgaria.

In October 2010, the court in the town of Gevgeli awarded custody rights to Mitrova, but the prosecution appealed.

The same court ruled in March 2009 to give custody rights to the father of 3-year old Suzanna and Mitrova's estranged husband, Serbian Voislav Savic.

The trial was re-opened following a ruling of the Skopje Court of Appeals, which respected Mitrova's claim.

Mitrova has been the cause of diplomatic scandal between the two countries since 2009.

In the aftermath of the news about the Court's ruling in March, the Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed deep concern over the way the custody trial was held, calling it non-transparent and arguing that it was held under a very negative public environment.

The ambassador of Macedonia to Sofia, Alexander Vasilevski, was summoned the next day to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry to provide clarifications about the Macedonian position regarding the Gevgeli court ruling.

Bulgaria was the first state to recognise Macedonia’s independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, and the country recognises its neighbour under its constitutional name (i.e. the Republic of Macedonia rather than the Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia – in contrast to countries such as Greece which insist that Macedonia should change its name in order to avoid any references to possible territorial claims).

However, Sofia has not recognised the existence of a Macedonian language separate from the Bulgarian and many Bulgarian historians say that the Macedonians are part of the Bulgarian nation.

In addition, the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria has complained in the past that it is unfairly treated by the state.