STOP HATE SPEECH international conference showed that together - spiritual leaders, high-ranking prosecutors and representatives of the judiciary from all over Europe and various non-governmental organizations can achieve more. I hope that the messages from the forum will also be heard by the politicians. This was stated by the Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev to journalists after closing the two-day forum organized by the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria jointly with the European Jewish Association.
More than 130 guests took part in the first-ever international conference dedicated to countering hate crimes and hate speech - general and supreme prosecutors from countries in the European Union and the region, senior clerics from various religions, representatives of state institutions, representatives of non-governmental organizations, academic society, human rights defenders and civil activists, etc.
Ivan Geshev emphasized that "in the recent years (in our country) we have a huge problem with hatred. Bulgarians hate Bulgarians and this is escalating. The result is that we are not moving forward, we are at war with each other".
The Prosecutor General also commented that the conference achieved its goal to bring together everyone involved in this activity (fighting hate speech) - the non-governmental sector, spiritual leaders, and the institutions of the judiciary. According to Ivan Geshev, part of the problem with hate speech is regulation in social networks, as well as "the delicate balance between freedom of speech and hate speech". One of the important questions at the conference was how to distinguish them, so that we do not lose freedom of speech, but also do not allow hate speech, noted the Prosecutor General.
In response to questions from journalists, the Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev commented that Bulgaria meets the criteria for Schengen and our country meets all the requirements so it would be undeserved not to be admitted to this community. "We are a European country and we comply with European standards", emphasized Ivan Geshev.
In response to a question about allegations made in the media about shooting at migrants on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, the Prosecutor General pointed out that according to information from the Ministry of Interior, there was no shooting. "There is an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office in Burgas, which did not find the same circumstances as reported in the media", Geshev added. The Prosecutor General expressed confidence that the case will not be used situationally to achieve any political goals, because "Bulgaria does not deserve it".