Borisov Cabinet Reaches Out to Bulgarians in Lebanon

Bulgarian PM Borisov (middle) with FM Mladenov (left) and Lebanese PM Saad Hariri. Photo by Council of Ministers

The Bulgarian Cabinet will help the Bulgarian community in Lebanon to open a school of its own in Beirut.

This arrangement was made on the third day of the official visit of a Bulgarian government delegation to Lebanon at a meeting of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov with members of the Bulgarian community in Beirut and Lebanese graduates of Bulgarian universities.

The future Bulgarian school in Lebanon will be a "Sunday school" and will train local Bulgarian kids in Bulgarian language, culture, and history.

Borisov announced that the Bulgarian government will move to reduce the state university fees in Bulgaria by 50% for students of Bulgarian origin from Lebanon.

At the same time, the Bulgarian government will provide scholarships to Lebanese students pursuing higher education in Bulgaria, Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov revealed.

The Association of Lebanese Graduates of Bulgarian Universities even presented Prime Minister Borisov with a certificate of recognition of his contribution to the development of the Bulgarian-Lebanese relations.

In addition to education, the other matters raised by the Bulgarian community in Lebanon at their meeting with the Bulgarian PM and top diplomat had to do with the restoration of the direct Sofia-Beirut air line, which was discontinued in November 2010, the issuing of visas and Bulgarian IDs, and the opening of a Bulgarian cultural institute in Lebanon.

Mladenov said that the new system for issuing biometric IDs is already running at the Bulgarian Embassy in Beirut, which should ease the acquisition of new IDs for Bulgarians living in Lebanon.

He further noted that the visa policy will be reshaped once Bulgaria joins the Schengen Area.

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