The U.S. State Department has now issued its 2023 Action
Report on International Child Abduction.
Bulgaria has been declared by the State Department to be noncompliant with the Hague Abduction Convention.
The State Department has reported to
Congress that within the past year it has taken the following actions in this
regard against Bulgaria:
·
Department officials, in Washington, DC and at
the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, continued to raise concerns over Bulgaria’s pattern
of noncompliance with Government of Bulgaria officials.
·
In October 2022, Department officials from
Washington, DC and U.S. Embassy Sofia met with the Bulgarian Central Authority
and other Bulgarian stakeholders to discuss international parental child
abduction issues. The Bulgarian Central Authority reported on efforts to
resolve enforcement issues concerning Bulgarian court-ordered returns.
·
In November 2022, Department officials proposed
an International Visitor Leadership Program on international parental child
abduction. The purpose of this program was to conduct an informational exchange
between U.S. and Bulgarian officials who are responsible for implementing the
Convention. The program is scheduled to take place in July 2023.
·
In April 2023, the Special Advisor for
Children’s Issues and U.S. Embassy Sofia met again with the Bulgarian Central
Authority and key stakeholders to 9 improve Bulgaria’s processing of IPCA
cases. Stakeholders included the Deputy Minister of Justice, President of the
Sofia City Court, and the Chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Private
Enforcement Agents. The priorities of the meeting were highlighting enforcement
challenges in Convention cases, discussing current IPCA cases, and proposing
opportunities for continued engagement.
·
In May 2023, the Office of the Spokesperson
released a media note to announce the release of the 2023 Annual Report on
International Child Abduction and listed Bulgaria as a country cited for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance. In May 2023, the Senior Consular
Representative at the U.S. Mission to the European Union informed the EU of
Bulgaria’s citation.
·
In May 2023, Consular staff at U.S. Embassy
Sofia delivered a demarche to the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
notifying Bulgaria that the Department cited Bulgaria in the 2023 Annual Report
on International Child Abduction for demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance
during 2022.
·
In June 2023, Department officials DC discussed
international parental child abduction at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington,
DC.
Jeremy D. Morley has provided
expert evidence to courts in several U.S. states on such matters concerning Bulgaria.