Galery

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Anastasia Balezdrova

Little Maria, who was found in the Roma camp in Farsala last October, is a Bulgarian citizen and should therefore be sent to Bulgaria, as stated by Consul of Bulgaria in Athens Lyubomir Georgiev before representatives of the Greek media in Larissa shortly before the start of the trial related to the custody of the child. The diplomat added that he would submit to the court all documents supporting the request of Bulgaria that a Bulgarian court should decide on the custody of Maria rather than a Greek one.

The consul presented before the court an officially certified translation of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act, under which Maria is a Bulgarian citizen by origin. Article 8 of the legal text stipulates that "Any person of whom at least one parent is a Bulgarian citizen shall be a Bulgarian citizen by origin." Furthermore, the Bulgarian consul submitted documents connected with the system of child protection in Bulgaria and the effective operation of the State Agency for Child Protection.

Today's court hearing, which took place behind closed doors, lasted no longer than an hour and involved the consul and the defender of the Bulgarian side as well as Maria’s alleged "father", Christos Salis, who had been transported from the prison in Larissa. According to sources, he testified in the case, but his testimony was not taken into account because he was not represented by a defender. According to GRReporter sources, both his, and his wife Eleftheria Dimopoulou’s, defenders had not appeared in court because they had not received payment for the work related to their defence.

Earlier the Greek media had reported that if Maria were sent to Bulgaria, she would be placed in a home for abandoned children in the village of Gurkovo. A court source confirmed this information for GRReporter. It is worth noting that the institution in question is located very close to the village of Nikolaevo where Maria’s biological parents Sasha and Atanas Rusevi live.

According to the Greek news agency ANA, the Bulgarian consul had stated before the court that Bulgaria supports the placement of children in foster care. Before the media, he said that the probability of Maria being adopted would be decided by the Bulgarian court if the court in Larissa decided in favour of the Bulgarian request, telling the journalists to turn to Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry for any additional information.

The case for the custody of Maria is considered by the voluntary jurisdiction court of the district court in Larissa. After hearing all the parties, the court took the documents submitted and it is expected that it will decide on Maria’s fate within 2-3 months.