Bulgarian Citizenship Applications Drop, Vice-President Popova Says

Bulgaria's Vice President Margarita Popova speaks at a news conference marking the end of her third year in office, Sofia, 21 January 2015. Photo by BGNES

The number of foreign nationals applying for Bulgarian citizenship fell by a quarter last year, Vice President Margarita Popova said on Wednesday.

A total of 5,999 Bulgarian citizenship applications were submitted last year, a decrease compared to 7,954 in 2013, Popova told a joint news conference with President Rosen Plevneliev marking the end of their third year in office. She didn't elaborate on the nationality of those applicants.

Twenty-six people were deprived of Bulgarian citizenship in 2014. 

It is within the powers of the Vice President to grant, restore and withdraw Bulgarian citizenship.

The presidential institution considered asylum requests from 32 citizens of Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Algeria, Marocco, Vietnam, France and Iraq in 2014. In 2013, it worked on 25 requests, and back in 2012 the number was 19.

Over the past three years asylum has been granted to one person. Since the beginning of 2015, 11 asylum applications have been received. 

According to Popova, a working formula has to be found to adequately assess the capability of each country to grant asylum to refugees in order to ensure their integration.

"It is important not just to accept those people in the country. It is important that those people received shelter and started living as Bulgarian citizens," Popova commented.

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