On 7 June 2018, the Commission for Protection against Discrimination (CPD) visited Varna as part of its National Campaign for Accessible Architecture “Accessible Bulgaria”. 

The construction of an accessible architectural environment is a commitment of the Bulgarian state and municipalities, legally regulated in a number of normative acts, such as: the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Law on Protection against Discrimination, the Law on Spatial Planning, the Law on Integration of Persons with Disabilities, Ordinance No. 4/2009 on the design, execution and maintenance of buildings in compliance with the requirements for an accessible environment for the population, including persons with disabilities. 

Under the campaign activities, the CPD is actively conducting a survey in the capital and the country on the accessibility of urban infrastructure and public facilities to show good practices, as well as to give mandatory prescriptions where necessary. After thorough inspections carried out by CPD experts throughout the country in April 2018, reports of violations were issued in accordance with the criteria of the Accessible Bulgaria campaign. On the basis of these protocols, 130 new cases were opened in the Commission. 

In fulfillment of its powers as an independent state body, the CPD is launching a series of visits to different regions of the country to meet with heads of institutions - regional and local - to focus on the problem and work towards its gradual resolution. Such a visit was made in Varna, where in the building of the Regional Administration representatives of the Commission for Protection against Discrimination met with the Regional Governor Stoyan Pasev, leaders and representatives of regional and local institutions, the local public and the media. All of them were acquainted with the objectives and criteria of the National Campaign “Accessible Bulgaria”, as well as with the functions and powers of the CPD.