A court in Bulgaria has recognized the rights of lesbian couple Kristina Palma and Mariama Dialo to marry in a landmark case. Palma is a citizen of Australia and Dialo is a citizen of France. The couple married in 2016, and Palma was permitted to live and work in Bulgaria at that time, as she was married to a citizen of the EU. This arrangement came to an end, however, when Bulgaria said that she was not permitted to live or work in the country because same-sex marriage is not legal in the conservative country. Bulgaria is one of 20 EU countries where same-sex marriage is illegal.
This denial led to a two-year-long court battle for Palm and Dialo’s right to live together in Bulgaria. The couple initially won a victory earlier this year in front of an administrative court, but the Bulgarian government appealed the decision. Now, a higher court has reaffirmed the rights of the couple to live tog