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coronavirus certificate proving they have been fully vaccinated or recovered from the virus, as well as a negative test for coronavirus carried out within 72 hours before entry.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s ruling
coalition has split over an initiative
to introduce mandatory green coronavirus certificates for people entering parliament. On January 5, parliament’s committee decided that the document will become mandatory after voting by MPs. However, a day later, Toshko Jordanov, the head of the parliamentary group of There Are Such People (ITN) – a member of the ruling coalition – warned that his party would not back that.
In Croatia, the number of new cases posted a new record high on January 6, going beyond 9,000 in 24 hours, after passing the 8,500 mark a day earlier. The cases were particularly high in Split- Dalmatia county, followed by the capital Zagreb. One fifth of the cases are in these two areas.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic
has commented that most likely the Omicron strain is widespread in the country already and urged unvaccinated people to get the jab as soon as possible and for those who have been vaccinated to receive a booster dose.
So far, 63% of the adult population has received two doses, while 543,000 people have had boosters.
In Montenegro, the number of new cases has also surged. According to data from the Institute for Public Health, more than 2,800 new cases were registered on January 5 in the country of just over 620,000 people. As the country is celebrating Orthodox Christmas, it is likely that the number of registered new cases will be lower at the end of the week due to the lower number of tests.
In an attempt to contain the spread of the virus, the government tightened the restrictions for entry in the country as of beginning of January. People
can enter Montenegro if they have a
Top EU court says Bulgaria must issue ID to baby girl with two mothers
Denitsa Koseva in Sofia
The European Union’s top court has ruled that Bulgaria must issue an identity document to a baby girl born in Spain to a same-sex couple from Bulgaria and Gibraltar in a ruling seen as historic by local LGBT organisations.
The ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) concerns a married couple in which both women are recognised as mothers on their child’s birth certificate, issued in Spain where they live. However, Bulgaria does not recognise same-sex marriage and refused to name both as mothers in
a national birth certificate, which is needed for the baby to get a Bulgarian – and hence an EU – identity document.
“[S]ince [the baby girl] S.D.K.A. has Bulgarian nationality, the Bulgarian authorities are required to issue to her a Bulgarian identity card or passport stating her surname as it appears on the birth certificate drawn up by the Spanish authorities, regardless of whether a new birth certificate is drawn up,” the court ruled.
It added that such a document, whether alone or accompanied by a document issued by the host member state, which is Spain, must enable the child to exercise the right of free movement with each of her two mothers.
The court also noted that each EU citizen has the right to lead a normal family life.
“Since the Spanish authorities have lawfully established that there is a parent- child relationship, biological or legal, between S.D.K.A. and her two parents, attested in the birth certificate issued in respect of the child, V.M.A. and K.D.K. must, pursuant to Article 21 TFEU and Directive 2004/38, be recognised by
all Member States as having the right, as parents of a Union citizen who is a minor and of whom they are the primary carers, to accompany that child when she is exercising her rights,” the court said.
In April, the Court of Justice of the European Union also ruled that Bulgaria should issue ID papers to the baby girl and recognise the parenting rights of her two mothers.
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