The Minister for Bulgarians Abroad, Bozhidar Dimitrov, is against issuing green cards for foreign citizens as an unnecessary bureaucratic measure.

Dimitrov presented Wednesday his priorities before the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee.

"Such formality will stop people from establishing permanent residence in Bulgaria, from purchasing real estate properties while the policy of the new cabinet is to accelerate the procedures for granting Bulgarian citizenship and adherence to the law," Dimitrov said, adding different groups of "candidate Bulgarians" will receive citizenship in three months to a year.

According to Dimitrov, the decision to grant citizenship now takes over five years, while the procedure is accelerated only for foreigners, who offer services to Bulgaria in the areas of sports, arts and culture.

"Until now only some worthless Nigerian football players are granted citizenship because the current legislation allows for one team to have up to three foreign players. In the future, the Bulgarian national team will become as dark as the French one, where there isn't a single white person," the Minister without portfolio is quoted as saying.

Dimitrov also explained that the idea to create a special fund to accomodate Bulgarians who are returning from abroad with the desire to settle in the country has been rejected in order to not trigger the jealousy of ordinary citizens.

"In a country where 70% live at the poverty level and there are 300 000 unemployed people, this will provoke animosity towards the newly arriving Bulgarians over privileged treatment. Most of those Bulgarians living outside our boundaries such as the Macedonian and Bessarabian Bulgarians are both very industrious and not as poor as they are perceived to be, and will be able to deal with settling in Bulgaria successfully and on their own," according to the minister.

Dimitrov further alerted about a problem involving foreign students taking classes at Bulgarian colleges. He explained that until they received their bachelor's degrees they were considered Bulgarians, but as soon as they enter masters' programs they become foreigners so that they can pay much higher education fees.

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