Bulgaria owns66 royal estates in Rila. Will King Simeon II return the money back?

Bulgaria has become the owner of66 properties in the Rila mountain, which are part of the research within the so-called "royal" restitution. The Sofia District Court has recognized Bulgaria as the owner of66 properties after more than a decade of legal battle, the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food reports.

These lands consist of forest and agricultural plots from the forest fund in the Rila Mountain with a total area of about16 thousand decares and are the last unfinished case of the so-called "royal" restitution. The process in the case was initiated by the state lawsuit through the Minister of Agriculture and Food against the heirs of former kings Ferdinand I and Boris III.

In2019, a settlement was reached with some of the defendants, representatives of the royal family, and the case against them was dropped.

The decision of the Sofia District Court can be appealed. If the court's decision remains in force, S.B.S. and his sister M.B.H. (that is, King Simeon II and Princess Maria-Louisa) will have to compensate the state with an amount of 1,635,875 euros, as determined by the European Court of Human Rights for the material damage caused by the moratorium imposed by the National Assembly in 2009.

Photo: The Royal Palace of "Vrana" (Sofia, Bulgaria) in the first decades of the 20th century.

Source: State Agency "Archives" - Sofia.