European Parliament to question Bulgarian proposal for referendum on Turkish-speaking news programme

Today in Strasbourg Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, raised his concerns to parliamentary group leaders about plans in Bulgaria to hold a national referendum with a view to closing down a short news programme broadcast in Turkish for the benefit of the Turkish-speaking minority. The initiative presented by the far right Ataka party was recently backed by Prime Minister Borisov and raises important questions about the country's commitment to the protection of minorities since it became a full member of the EU in 2007.

On a request from the ALDE group, it was agreed today that the subject will be added to Parliament's plenary agenda in January.

Guy Verhofstadt said:

"The Bulgarian Government must see sense. Supporting Ataka's request for a national referendum on a matter of minority rights is inevitably going to favour the linguistic majority.

"This initiative risks putting Bulgaria at odds with fundamental European and international legal and political obligations governing the protection and respect for minorities and minority languages. Closure of this news programme will inflame tensions within Bulgarian society and discredit the country's reputation in the international community as well as breaching the EU Treaty principle of non-discrimination on grounds of ethnicity and language."

Ataka has already obtained the necessary number of signatures to trigger a demand for a referendum.
The final decision lies with the Parliament.