At a news conference at 2 Dondoukov Boulevard today, Vice President Margarita Popova gave a briefing on the Commission on Bulgarian Citizenship Bulgarians Abroad at the President's Administration. The Commission is a permanent advisory body and assists the Bulgarian Vice President in exercising the power of granting or revocation of citizenship. The Commission consists of three full-time employees in the President’s Administration.
The Commission is chaired by Irina Dimitrova and its members are Neviana Mihailova and Maria Tsankova, who is responsible for the Bulgarians Abroad portfolio.
Vice President Popova outlined the procedure and the interaction among the institutions engaged in the process of granting Bulgarian citizenship. She said that the constitutional institution for granting citizenship is difficult and complicated and requires quality and motivation. That is why the Vice President requires that the decree on the granting of citizenship be changed so that each proposal on granting Bulgarian citizenship from the Council on Citizenship at the Ministry of Justice be accompanied in all cases by the authentic motives and opinions of the Interior Ministry, the State Agency for National Security and other institutions involved. The Vice President said that in the case of new facts coming to light, then decisions already taken could be reviewed and granting of citizenship revoked.
Margarita Popova said that it is time for the Commission and institutions working in the Council on Citizenship to start work on drafting a national strategy for citizenship in order to avoid “piecemeal” changes to the Bulgarian Citizenship Act.
In the period between January 22 2012 and May 22 2012, Vice President Popova has signed 34 decrees granting to Bulgarian citizenship to 4365 people. The largest numbers of people who acquired Bulgarian citizenship during this period were from Macedonia (2264) and from Moldova (1026). A total of 316 people were refused a decree granting them Bulgarian nationality.
The Commission will periodically report information about its work, which will then be made public by the Public Relations Directorate of the Presidential Administration.