The Bulgarian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) raised the case of Iva Mihaylova from North Macedonia, who also has Bulgarian citizenship.
The head of the delegation, Vessela Momcheva-Town, handed a non-paper on the case to PACE President Petra Bair. The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian delegation, Denitsa Sacheva.
The case was also discussed during the Assembly's autumn session in Strasbourg. On September 29, Momcheva-Towne asked the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, about the possibilities for the organization's institutions to react in cases where judicial restrictions impede access to necessary medical care.
The question was raised in connection with the ban imposed on Mihaylova to travel abroad for medical treatment due to legal proceedings. Berset stressed the importance of access to adequate healthcare and recalled that states must comply with Council of Europe standards, including those set out in the European Social Charter.
The case was also presented to Isabelle Béraud-Amadeus, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Monaco and acting Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. She pointed out that the Committee does not take a position on specific cases that are the subject of ongoing proceedings.
Béraud-Amadeus, however, drew attention to the possibility of requesting interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Court of Human Rights. They may be applied in exceptional circumstances where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to a right protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. Possible scenarios include situations related to access to healthcare.