A protest in favour of the Bulgarian mother Spaska Mitrova took place yesterday outside FYROM’s embassy in Sofia. The protest was organised by the VMRO party and it is estimated that around 70 people participated according to Novinite.com. The protesters held posters with the words “Give Child Back to Spaska! Every Child Needs Its Mother’.

Spaska Mitrova’s shocking arrest last year had provoked unrest and a diplomatic row in the relations between Bulgaria and FYROM. We remind, Mitrova was sentenced to three months in prison because she had refused to allow her former husband to see their child.

After extensive pressure from the Bulgarian government Spaska was released from the prison but has still not been allowed access to her baby daughter. The Chair of VMRO, Krasimir Karakachanov, concluded that FYROM policies must “move away from Third World or Cold War policies otherwise they can not and will not be in the European Union.”