Bulgarian President Rumen Radev did not veto the new anti-LGBTI law banning any kind of educational programmes on ‘non-traditional sexual orientation’ in Bulgarian schools, ignoring calls from the Council of Europe and civil society activists to veto it, writes EURACTIV.

“The amendments were initiated by the radical pro-Russian party Revival (Europe of Sovereign Nations) and passed with the help of GERB (EPP) and the pro-Russian left-wing BSP (PES) and were quickly passed after two readings in a day last week. They were published in the State Gazette on Friday (16 August) and – with the president’s assent – will now enter into force.

Under the new amendments, any educational programme in schools related to “non-traditional sexual orientation” would be labelled as “propaganda”.

Even before the presidential assent, the bill attracted opposition. As well as a petition, now signed by over 6,000 people, calling on the president to veto the text and a protest, the Council of Europe urged the Bulgarian president not to give the go-ahead.

“Deeply concerned by the recent law passed by Bulgaria’s Parliament to ban so-called LGBTI ‘propaganda’ in schools. I call on president Radev not to sign it. Authorities should tackle discrimination and hostile rhetoric against LGBTI people, including in the run-up to elections”, wrote Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty on X.

“The Bulgarian parliament has just passed a law banning representation of LGBTI identities in schools. I call on the Bulgarian authorities to prevent and combat hate speech, discrimination and violence against LGBTI persons, ensure access to information and repeal the law immediately,” Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo, a member of the Council of Europe’s Committee on Equality in the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), wrote on X.

The criticism was echoed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“We are deeply concerned by the signing into law of an amendment in Bulgaria banning discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and call for the law to be reviewed in line with the country’s international human rights obligations”, spokesperson Liz Trossell said in a statement released on Friday.

On 13 July, EU Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli announced that she would launch an investigation into whether the anti-LGBTI law violates EU law. Dalli has sent a letter to Bulgarian Education Minister Galin Tsokov, who has until the end of August to explain exactly what the new law means, what sanctions it will lead to and how it will be implemented.

“The European Commission is concerned about any development that could put at risk the effective implementation of European legislation, including the observance of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU”, Dalli wrote to the Bulgarian minister.

The new Bulgarian law states that “actions related to propaganda, promotion or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or determination of gender identity other than biological are prohibited”.

“Non-traditional sexual orientation” is defined in the law as “different from the generally accepted and enshrined in the Bulgarian legal tradition notions of emotional, romantic, sexual or sensual attraction between persons of the opposite sex”. Russia was the first country to pass a law banning “homosexual propaganda” aimed at minors 11 years ago. Since the war in Ukraine, Russian law has outlawed ‘non-traditional sexual relations’ altogether, drastically restricting the rights of gay and LGBTI people in Russia. The anti-LGBTI law was rejected by the previous parliament, but the current National Assembly passed it. After the legislation was signed into law, the presidential administration issued a statement saying that “the head of state has expressed his position on the amendments to the law on preschool and school education by signing a decree on its promulgation””, - writes the author of the article.