Iva Mihaylova, 23, who faces charges in North Macedonia, has secretly returned to Bulgaria despite a ban on leaving that country. She is being treated at Pirogov hospital in Sofia, her lawyer Nikolay Dimitrov said. Her return surprised officials in both countries.
This story follows our earlier report on Mihaylova's arrival at Pirogov. After that report, interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said the Interior Ministry would question her about how she crossed the border.
Mihaylova holds both Bulgarian and North Macedonian citizenship. She is charged in North Macedonia over a serious car crash in which one person died, and the case bars her from leaving the country. She was held in custody there for about a year.
The lawyer said the two of them planned the return together. He said her health has worsened and she cannot get proper treatment in North Macedonia. They crossed the border in the lawyer's car. At the Macedonian checkpoint Mihaylova showed her Macedonian ID card, and at the Bulgarian one she showed her Bulgarian card. The crossing point was not named.
No one stopped them. The lawyer said border officials knew about the crossing, the talk with them lasted 20 minutes, and the officers congratulated them on getting her out. He added that many people from North Macedonia helped, and that border and local police knew. "We don't want anyone to get hurt." This morning the lawyer told the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry.
Her examinations continue at the neurosurgery clinic at Pirogov. Doctors have ordered more tests, and the results are not yet clear. Mihaylova will stay in hospital for the next few days, the lawyer told journalists. How long she will stay is not yet known.
About a week earlier, North Macedonia officially agreed to let Bulgarian doctors examine her in the country. Mihaylova says the examinations are enough: she has had more than 50 this year alone, and she needs treatment, not more examinations.
The lawyer said they have taken matters into their own hands and that their next steps are well thought out.
Lawyers and diplomats say North Macedonia could ask for her extradition, but Bulgaria is not obliged to carry it out automatically. So far there is no sign of such a request.
The case will be heard again in November. Mihaylova did not say whether she will go back for the hearing, but she said it goes ahead whether she is present or not.
Updated (12.10, 13:58): North Macedonia's interior ministry says the border control system has no record of Mikhailova leaving the country. Its data does not support first reports that border authorities knew about the crossing. Her Macedonian lawyer was surprised by her departure and learned of it this morning. He says the court had not given permission for it.
Updated (12.10, 14:22): A 23-year-old woman from Kocani crossed the border legally with a lawyer's help and had permission to leave North Macedonia for medical treatment in Bulgaria, local media report. She did not cross in secret despite a ban, as first reported. The claim that her return caught the authorities by surprise is therefore not confirmed. A court ban had kept her in Kocani for more than a year after the crash in which a person died.
Updated (12.10, 14:55): North Macedonia's interior ministry says it has no record of the 23-year-old woman leaving the country. Earlier reports had said border officers knew she crossed. Bulgaria's border police said they have no record of her legally entering Bulgaria. Local media report that her lawyer in North Macedonia is surprised she crossed the border and says she had no court permission to leave. At the next hearing, a road safety expert proposed by the defence will give evidence.