On June 9 and 11, 2026, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued unanimous judgments in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Bulgaria and Italy. These judgments set an important precedent for religious freedom across all 46 member states of the Council of Europe.

Bulgaria

On June 9, 2026, the ECHR unanimously determined that a local ordinance in Shumen, Bulgaria, violated our brothers’ freedom of religion by restricting them from sharing in the house-to-house ministry in that town. The Court noted in Velev and Others v. Bulgaria that the “door-to-door preaching constitutes, for Jehovah’s Witnesses, an essential manifestation of their religion.” It also ruled that the State failed to act impartially by imposing a ban that targeted a specific religious group. The Court found that “being exposed to religious ideas or convictions that one does not share cannot, in itself, justify a general prohibition on peaceful missionary activities.”

After the decision was announced, Brother Georgi Gogov, a member of the Bulgaria Branch Committee, remarked: “We are deeply grateful for this positive decision, which protects peaceful religious expression. It upholds our right to continue openly sharing the Bible’s message with others, including visiting our neighbors at their homes.”

Italy

On June 11, 2026, the ECHR unanimously ruled in our favor in the case of Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Italy. In that decision, the Court determined the government of Italy violated our religious freedom and right to equal treatment in regard to religious funding. For over 40 years, the government repeatedly denied Jehovah’s Witnesses access to the country’s principal program for State recognition and funding for religious groups, while granting access to 13 other non-Catholic religious groups. The State based its refusal on our Bible-based position regarding the use of blood in medical treatment as well as on our Christian neutrality. By denying such funding, the Court found that the State had discriminated against the Witnesses and violated their freedom of religion. The Court noted that our brothers “suffered definite and significant damage [taking into account] the long period during which the established violation persisted.” It directed the government of Italy to compensate the Witnesses for damages and legal costs.

As a worldwide brotherhood, we give all praise and thanks for these important legal victories to our great God, Jehovah.—1 Samuel 17:47.