Speaking before the Bulgarian Parliament, Justice Minister Desislava Ahladova said that a total of 66,000 Macedonian citizens acquired Bulgarian citizenship over the past 10 years.

These citizenships were handed out under the clause of Bulgarian origin – foreign citizens are asked to declare that they are Bulgarians or that their ancestors were Bulgarian, and can receive the passport. It’s a popular route for many Macedonians who want to travel and work more easily in European Union countries, as Bulgaria is an EU member state and its citizens have much easier travel and work arrangements. This scheme is less used in the past few years after allegations of abuse and corruption.

Bulgaria, obviously, uses this number to insist that there is a large Bulgarian minority in Macedonia.