“We need a single standard for proving Bulgarian origin,“ said the chairman of the Committee on Policies for Bulgarians Abroad Stoyan Taslakov.
With these words, he announced the start of an initiative to establish an interdepartmental working group to prepare a draft law to synchronize the procedures for recognizing Bulgarian origin.
Last week, Stoyan Taslakov assigned the Ministry of Justice and the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad to join the working group. It is expected that other competent institutions, as well as experts with practical experience, will also participate in it. It is planned that the prepared bill will subsequently be submitted for consideration to the National Assembly by the newly formed Council for Coordination of Policies for Bulgarians Outside the Republic of Bulgaria under the Council of Ministers, which should become operational as soon as possible.
During the discussion, it was noted that in recent years the Commission has received numerous signals from persons applying for Bulgarian citizenship, expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of transparency, a different approach to the assessment of documents and long delays in the procedures.
The initiative also comes against the backdrop of alarming data presented to the members of the Commission by the Ministry of Justice: as of March 20, 2025, 51,985 pending files on Bulgarian citizenship procedures were registered, with 27,700 of them overdue. This necessitates an urgent need for reform that would regulate the process with clear and predictable rules.
“We are convinced that only through coordinated efforts between institutions can we achieve real change. This is a key element in our policy towards compatriots abroad and an important step towards restoring trust in state structures,“ Taslakov emphasized.