The Radko Association ( bg, Сдружение Радко, ''Sdruzhenie Radko''; mk, Здружение Радко, ''Združenie Radko'') is a political organization of citizens of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

with a

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

national consciousness. Founded in 2000 and based in

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

, the association was named after

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

(IMRO) leader

Ivan Mihailov Ivan Mihailov Gavrilov ( bg, Иван Михайлов Гаврилов; mk, Ванчо Михајлов Гаврилов;He is credited in English-language sources as ''Mihailov'', while the Bulgarian and Macedonian transliteration schemes ...

's most popular pseudonym. The Radko Association was presided by the Ohrid native Vladimir Pankov until his death in 2019. Among the association's goals are amendments to the Macedonian constitution in order to make Bulgarian an

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

, the constitutional recognition of Bulgarians as a national community, and the cessation of state discrimination and repression towards the Bulgarian-identifying population. The association is critical of the official historiography in North Macedonia and claims that the Macedonian ethnic identity was forcefully imposed on

Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia (Macedonian and sr, Вардарска Македонија, ''Vardarska Makedonija'') was the name given to the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia (1912–1918) and Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) roughly corresponding to to ...

's Bulgarian population. In 2001, the association was declared unconstitutional and banned by the Constitutional Court of the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. However, the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

held that the dissolution of the Association infringed

Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to freedom of assembly and association, including the right to form trade unions, subject to certain restrictions that are "in accordance with law" and "necessary in a democr ...

. The court ordered the Macedonian state to pay five thousand euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage and four thousand euros in respect of costs and expenses.''Association of Citizens Radko & Paunkovski v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', 74651/01 (15/01/2009)
/ref>

References

External links

Archived website

Website

European Court of Human Rights judgement on the ''Association of Citizens Radko & Paunkovski v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'' case
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020 Ethnic organizations based in North Macedonia Organizations established in 2000 Ohrid European Court of Human Rights cases involving North Macedonia Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights 2000 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia Macedonian Bulgarians

See also

References

External links