Bulgaria is still on a long road to democracy, one could read that in Bulgaria the trade in voters' votes has established itself as a tradition and Bulgaria should be stuck in the grip of corruption and favoritism.

European arrest warrant from Bulgaria

But Bulgaria is part of the European arrest warrant system since the implementation of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant.

Extradition of German nationals to Bulgaria in particular

The extradition of German nationals to Bulgaria for prosecution is possible on the basis of a European arrest warrant.

Provisional arrest for extradition may be ordered if, in a specific case, extradition to Bulgaria does not appear inadmissible from the outset.

As expected, the ECHR (decision of 27.01.2015, Neshkov et al./. Bulgaria) was very critical of the Bulgarian penal system. The prisons Atlant Prison, Burgas, Lovech, Pleven, Stara Zagora, Sofia and Varna were qualified as not meeting the minimum standards of the ECHR due to massive overcrowding and lack of sanitary facilities. CPT's position on prison conditions in Bulgaria was just as critical in 2015.