site.btaMinister Yordanova Takes Part in Justice and Home Affairs Council Meeting in Brussels

Criminalization of hate speech and hate crimes at EU level will contribute for more effective counteraction against them, Bulgarian Justice Minister Nadezhda Yordanova stated during a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels, the Bulgarian Justice Ministry reported on Friday. The EU Justice Ministers debated on the Council Decision to expand the catalogue of crimes under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The participants adopted conclusions on combating racism and anti-Semitism.

Yordanova stressed that the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU should be respected in the area of hate crimes when making a future legislation of the EU, and the specific features of the legislation in the different Member States should be taken into account.

A careful approach is needed while making hate speech laws when hate speech is not related to incitement to crime, she added.

Yordanova also held working meetings with Austrian Justice Minister Alma Zadic and Italian Justice Minister Marta Cartabia. They discussed current issues of judicial reforms in their countries.