Bulgarian Social Minister Announces New Policies, Appeals to Social Workers

Parents of children who who in their turn became underaged parents will no longer receive government financial assistance.

The announcement was made by Bulgarian Social Minister Ivaylo Kalfin in an interview for NOVA television Thursday.

He further commented on the case of a social worker who had been attacked in Roma nighborhood in Plovdiv.

Angelina Petrova attempted to counteract a popular scheme for fund smuggling, as she went to inspect the residences of Roma people who had claimed that they need social assistance. Soon after she was physically attacked and was involved in an open scandal on the street. She was later fired by local authorities under the pretext that she had been responsible for rising ethnic tensions.

''Roma people are being educated on how they can literally drain funding, Petrova explained in an interview for NOVA television. ''There are organizations whose only purpose is to educate them on Bulgarian laws and how they can get hold of funding. So, they quote passages of the law when someone tells them that they are inelligible.''

In response to the critical situation and lack of sufficiently effective integration of the ever-growing Roma population in Bulgaria, Minister Kalfin commented that there indeed are neighborhoods that social workers can barely control.

''I would like to turn to all social workers. Whenever you have similar problems, please, turn to me and to my office directly,'' said Kalfin. ''Don't go to your supervisors. This way, yuo will have my full protection in case of law violations.''

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