The peak in applications for Bulgarian citizenship from Macedonians – about 40,000 - came in 2004, three years before the country joined the European Union. Photo by BGNES
A total of 1,4 million Macedonian citizens from Slavic origin and another 300,000 ethnic Turks, who were forcefully driven out of Bulgaria in the 80s, are lining up for a passport in Sofia and could gain EU citizenship through the back door, says Le Figaro.
"Very often on the threshold of poverty these citizens live in countries, which are centuries away from the standards of the European Union. But they all can claim they are eligible for the precious passports," the article comments.
According to it more than 4000 people applied for Hungarian citizenship since January, while the authorities in Bucharest wait between 250 000 and 400 000 applications for passports by the end of the year.
Bulgaria grants citizenship to Macedonians who prove Bulgarian ethnicity. The procedure requires providing their family name and birth certificate and filling in complex paperwork. Under Bulgaria's rules, perhaps two-thirds of of Macedonia's population of two million could be eligible for citizenship.
Tens of thousands have applied and nearly 20,000 have been approved since 2001. Acquiring a Bulgarian passport allows the holder to work in many European countries. Since Bulgarian laws allow dual citizenship, there is no need to renounce one's Macedonian documents.
To prove Bulgarian origin, it is enough for Macedonian citizens just to declare it, which makes virtually every Macedonian of Slavic origin is eligible to claim a Bulgarian passport.
Macedonians strive to obtain Bulgarian citizenship for a number of reasons – to migrate to Bulgaria, to travel and work freely across the European Union and also due to the faith in the protection that the Bulgarian state can give them.
But in Macedonia suspicions remain. The tortuous history of the Balkans, old territorial claims and accusations of a covertly expansionist agenda have tensed relations between the two countries.
In 1999 each nation renounced any claims to the territory of the other, but Bulgaria has still not formally recognized the existence of Macedonian language and culture. Politicians and media have suggested more than once that the Bulgarian state has a hidden goal of an ultimate "reunification".
The peak in applications for Bulgarian citizenship from Macedonians – about 40,000 - came in 2004, three years before the country joined the European Union.