From 7 June to 10 June 2023, a delegation from the Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia, headed by the President of the Court Dobrila Kacarska, paid an official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria.
Working meetings with a focus on the topic “Citizens’ access to constitutional justice” were held as part of the overall schedule. With the intention of furthering civil liberties and rights, protecting the rule of law, and bringing the constitutional judiciary closer to the people, the judges from the two courts exchanged experiences on this topic through real-world examples.
The meeting defined the guidelines for the preparation of the Balkan Constitutional Forum, which will be founded as an association of constitutional courts from the countries of Southeast Europe. The idea for this forum originated from the collaboration of the two constitutional courts, and on the initiative of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria, the first founding conference is scheduled to take place in Sofia at the end of October 2023.
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria hosted the four-day visit, which took place in Euxinograd and Veliko Tarnovo as part of a cycle of bilateral meetings outlined in the Memorandum of Cooperation between the two courts that was signed in May 2022.
During their visit to Bulgaria, the delegations from the two courts met with Mr Daniel Panov, mayor of Veliko Tarnovo. The meeting was also attended by Agneza Rusi, the Macedonian ambassador to Bulgaria.
The Macedonian delegation was composed of the president of the Constitutional Court, Dobrila Kacarska; judges Tatjana Vasikj-Bozadjieva and Fatmir Skender; the secretary of the Court, Aleksandar Lazov; the head of the cabinet-advisor of the Court, Mirjana Lesevska; and the advisor of the Court on public relations and spokesperson, Hristina Belovska.