A group of representatives of the Bulgarian Diaspora in Ukraine has visited Sofia for meetings with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Bozhidar Dimitrov, Minister for Bulgarians Abroad.

They announced on Wednesday that they plan to send an open letter to Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, the Prime Minister, and to the Parliamentary Speaker, Tsetska Tsacheva, to alert them to their allegations of being bullied by the local authorities in Odessa, Ukraine, where they are based.

"An outrageous act by local authorities," is how one member of the delegation described the situation, where the Ukrainian authorities are attempting to evict the group from their rented headquarters in the southern Ukrainian city.

"Some political forces in Odessa aim at something - and we're doing nothing.

"This means that there is a problem for Bulgaria with regard to our citizens abroad. The aim is to cause damage to the Bulgarian community in Ukraine," stated Kostadin Karamitrev, President of the Union of Thracian Societies in Bulgaria.

The group is appealing to Bulgaria for financial help to solve the situation. They have suggested that the state should purchase the center.

The District Administration in Odessa wants EUR 2,5 M for the property. Karamitrev has suggested that this amount should be included in the deficit of BGN 500 M with which the Bulgarian state budget is predicted to conclude at the end of 2009.

"I think we can hold a referendum - not one Bulgarian will object to the increase in the amount of the deficit, if the center is preserved," he said. His colleague, Svetlana Dragneva of the Association of Bulgarians in Ukraine, noted that Bulgarians are third in numbers in Ukraine after Ukrainians and Russians, and that this is perhaps the largest Bulgarian community abroad.

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