A total of 9309 Bulgarians abroad have been granted Bulgarian citizenship in the first six months of the year, with those coming from Macedonia accounting for a whopping 7201 of them, official data shows.

“This is no surprise since the Bulgarian state does not require these people to have a certificate for a Bulgarian origin. Bulgaria believes that all Macedonians are of Bulgarian origin,” Bozhidar Dimitrov, minister in charge of the Bulgarians abroad, commented.

Virtually every Macedonian of Slavic origin is eligible to claim a Bulgarian passport. In order to be granted citizenship, Bulgarians abroad have to prove Bulgarian ethnicity. To prove that it is enough for Macedonian citizens just to declare it.

Macedonians with Bulgarian citizenship have for years annoyed the Macedonian authorities and have given rise to accusations against the Bulgarian state of a covertly expansionist agenda. They however deny to have been encouraged to apply for Bulgarian citizenship or to have done so under pressure.

Planned amendments to the law for Bulgarian citizenship, which are expected to be approved soon, aim to uproot a new business that has grown up in rural Macedonia, with middlemen collecting hundreds of euros per person for preparing and submitting applications.

Under the legislative changes, the Bulgarian state is obliged to approve or reject an application for citizenship within one year. Currently applicants have to wait on average four or five years to be granted a Bulgarian citizenship.

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