UDC 327(497.2):323.113(=163.2)

B. P. Grushetsky Taurida National V. I. Vernadsky University (Simferopol)

BULGARIAN DIASPORA IN THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF (1992-2013)

Protecting the rights of living abroad is regarded as one of Bulgaria's foreign policy priorities by all its governments. The role of the in foreign policy is determined by the fact that the number of Bulgarians living outside the historic homeland is 1.5 million people according to the State Agency of Bulgarians abroad (SABA). It exceeds 20% of the total number of Bulgarian people. Presently there aren’t comprehensive studies of the foreign policy of Bulgaria concerning the Bulgarian Diaspora. Some publications analyzed only the impact of this policy on bilateral relations of Bulgaria with certain countries, where ethnic Bulgarians live: Albania [2; 42] Serbia [1; 3; 26; 34; 40], [9; 27]. Legal acts of the Republic of Bulgaria are used for more complete topic disclosure: the Constitution [11], laws [6-8], government programs [19-21; 30], decrees of the Council of Ministers [14-18], international agreements [5] and other official documents [10; 22; 24; 29; 31]. Statistical data of SABA [23] and the official census [4; 13; 28; 32; 33; 35-39; 41] are used for count the number of Bulgarians living abroad. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the main features of the state policy of the Republic of Bulgaria concerning the Bulgarians living abroad. Research objectives: to identify the main areas of settlement of the Bulgarian Diaspora, to analyze legal acts that govern the relationship between the official authorities of Bulgaria and Bulgarians living abroad, to distinguish state institutions responsible for the implementation of this direction of foreign policy of Bulgaria, to determine the stages of the state policy in this area, including nature of reform in 2009-2011. Bulgarian Diaspora can be divided into three groups based on territorial and temporal criteria: 1) Bulgarians living in their own ethnographic territory outside the Republic of Bulgaria (South-Eastern Europe); 2) the Bulgarians who migrated from their ethnographic territory from the late XVII to the first half of XX centuries ( in , Bessarabian and , Bulgarians in Argentina and Brazil, the old Diaspora in the USA); 3) new Bulgarian labour migration of 1990’s-2000’s (Western Europe, Greece, USA). Belonging to the Bulgarian nation of individual nations and ethnic groups (Macedonians in Macedonia and Greece, Gagauz in Moldova and Ukraine, Gorani in Albania and partially recognized Kosovo, Krashovani in Romania) remains discussion question. The largest region of settlement of Bulgarians abroad are Western Europe (0.5 million), including Spain (151-164 thousand), UK (80-100 thousand), Germany (60- 94 thousand), Italy (41-70 thousand), Austria (35 thousand), France (25-30 thousand), Portugal (5-12 thousand) [23; 32, s. 32; 33, p. 350; 36, p. 6; 38, p. 8]. Number of new Bulgarian Diaspora is rapidly increased after the accession of Bulgaria to the EU. Accurate count of the population of Bulgarian origin is difficult in the UK, where mainly racial differences are considered, and France, where there isn’t study of ethnicity. The number of new Diaspora leaves behind the number of Bulgarians living in traditional areas. It steadily decreased in South-Eastern Europe, where the number of Bulgarians is 250 thousand. Almost half of them live in Greece (80-120 thousand). A large number of Bulgarians also live in Serbia (about 20 thousand) and Romania (9 thousand). Considering the ethnic group Gorani significant Bulgarian population are numbered in Albania (45 thousand) and partially recognized Kosovo (10-20 thousand) [23; 28, c. 70; 35, p. 60; 39]. The lack of ethnic origin study in the censuses in Turkey and Greece, as well as graphs "Bulgarians" in the census sheets in Albania and partially recognized Kosovo makes difficult the exact count of the number of Bulgarians in the region. The second largest Bulgarian diaspora resides in the CIS (about 330 thousand). According to different data Ukraine divides with the USA first and second places in number of the Bulgarians in their territory (204 thousand). In Moldova the number of Bulgarians is 67-80 thousand. Bulgarian diaspora in decreased to 24 thousand in 2010 [4; 13, c. 12; 23; 37]. North America holds the third place among the regions. In the United States according to the Census 2010 the number of new Bulgarian diaspora is 96 thousand people. With the early waves of migration, the number of Bulgarians can reach 250 thousand [23; 41]. Other countries and regions with a significant presence of the Bulgarian diaspora are Central Europe (new EU members, 18 thousand), Argentina (40 thousand), Australia (20 thousand), South Africa (20 thousand), North Africa and Middle East (about 10 thousand + 55 thousand Bulgarian Jews in Israel) [23]. State institutions responsible for the formulation and implementation of foreign policy towards the Bulgarian Diaspora are the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, National Assembly, President, State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad. The main authority that shapes state policy regarding foreign Bulgarians are the Council of Ministers, since it owns the key powers in the foreign policy of Bulgaria, including the development of laws, signing and denunciation of international agreements [11, c. 25, 31]. Ministry of Foreign Affairs is directly responsible for the development and implementation of foreign policy, sends representatives to international negotiations, monitor the diplomatic missions. The Ministry of Education is responsible for the implementation of educational programs related to the Bulgarian Diaspora. The role of the National Assembly as the only legislative body in the formation of the Bulgarian policy towards Bulgarians abroad is much lower. Parliament approves the relevant laws, and ratifies the most important international agreement [11, c. 23-24]. Speaker of the National Assembly performs representative functions [11, c. 21]. Parliament committees and groups support inter- parliamentary relations, including on issues concerning the status of the Bulgarian Diaspora. Bulgarian President has mainly representative powers actively using them in establishing cooperation with Bulgarian communities abroad. In addition, the President has the right to veto the laws and the power to appoint the ambassadors to other countries, thus can indirectly influence the implementation of policies concerning the Bulgarian Diaspora [11, c. 26-28]. Specialised authorities responsible for state policy regarding the Bulgarian foreign compatriots and regulatory framework relating to this sphere, formed during the 1990's - 2000's. The need for regulation of relations between the authorities of Bulgaria and Bulgarian communities abroad led to the formation in 1992 of the Agency of Bulgarians abroad (ABA) [16]. In 2000 ABA was transformed in SABA [14]. A new charter was adopted. According to it the main function of the organization is "the coordination of government policy towards the Bulgarians living outside the Republic of Bulgaria." The Agency hasn’t broad powers, its activity is limited to consultative and communicative work. In particular, the responsibilities of the agency include assistance to the authorities in the development of legal acts concerning foreign Bulgarians, coordination of ministries and departments, local government in this area, the study of the status and existing problems of the Bulgarian Diaspora, maintaining constant communication with Bulgarian communities around the world, collection and distribution of material assistance to the Bulgarian Diaspora organizations [31]. Some influence on public policy concerning the Bulgarian Diaspora have non-governmental organizations of the Bulgarians, including the Association of Bulgarian schools abroad (ABSA), whose work resulted in the adoption in 2009 of the educational program “Native language and culture abroad” [25]. State policy of Bulgaria in relation to Bulgarians living abroad for a long time was not included among the foreign policy priorities of the country. During the Cold War, only a question of the Bulgarian minority in Yugoslavia raised [34, p. 78-79]. At the same time it was assumed that in countries, which together with Bulgaria were part of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon (such as the USSR and Romania), the national question is successfully solved. So Bulgaria does not have to intervene in the social life of the local Bulgarian communities. With Greece since 1960's friendly relations started to establish, and the Bulgarian authorities did not dare to raise the issue of national minorities. A similar situation was with Turkey. Only after the aggravation of bilateral relations as a result of Revival process beginning Politburo of the BCP CC decided to protect the rights of Bulgarian citizens in Turkey [22, p. 20]. Radically changing of international situation and internal structure of Bulgaria in the late 1980s - early 1990s led to the formation of a coherent state policy on the Bulgarian Diaspora. In addition, labour migration not only increased the number of Bulgarians living abroad, but also expanded their territory of residence. It passed the four main stages of formation. In the first phase (1992-1997) ABA was formed as specialized administrative structure. Educational programs for Diaspora began to be implemented. The second phase (1997-2001) is characterized by activation of policy. It manifested in the adoption of specialized law, transformation ABA in SABA, securing the right to receive Bulgarian citizenship by foreign Bulgarians. In 2001- 2008 the policy in this area was less intense, because the Bulgarian authorities sought to avoid creating additional obstacles to the realization of the main foreign policy objective - European integration. Finally, during the 2008-2013 there was an attempt to further institutionalize policy towards Bulgarians living outside Bulgaria: amendments to the Law on Bulgarian citizenship simplified its receipt by foreign Bulgarians, the provisions on the protection of the Bulgarian Diaspora was made in the National Security Strategy, financial assistance to educational institutions abroad has been officially assigned by the Bulgarian government, for some time there was a post of minister without portfolio in charge of policy towards the Bulgarian Diaspora. So during the 1992-2011 was formed current legal framework of state policy concerning the Bulgarian Diaspora. The main profile law is the Law of Bulgarians living outside the Republic of Bulgaria (11.04.2000). Other official documents are Bulgarian Citizenship Act (18.11.1998), the Decree of Council of Ministers № 180 (07.09.1992), № 103 (31.05.1993), № 228 (20.05.1997), № 19 (10.02.2000), № 338 (08.12. 2011), Decision of the Council of Ministers № 146 (12.03.2009), government programmes of Ivan Kostov (1997), S. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (2001), S. Stanishev (2005), B. Borisov (2009). The main purpose of the foreign policy of Bulgaria in respect of the Bulgarian Diaspora is the preservation of ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds of communities, securing them against assimilation. Official Bulgarian authorities position itself as the main defender of the rights and freedoms of the Bulgarians living outside the country. It is not supported and certainly not provoked potential autonomist or separatist actions of the Bulgarian Diaspora communities in relation to the states where they live, which corresponds to the policy of refusal of Bulgaria from any territorial claims. The second area is facilitating the return of ethnic Bulgarians in their historical homeland to improve the negative demographic situation in Bulgaria. The formation of foreign policy in relation to Bulgarians living abroad still continues. The immediate task for today is adoption of the profile strategy and the new Law on Bulgarians living outside the Republic of Bulgaria. Constructive cooperation on the issue of the Bulgarian national minority develops with Ukraine, that consolidates on the legislative level. Thus, the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Cooperation (05.10.1992) includes separate item on measures to protect the identity of Bulgarians in Ukraine and in Bulgaria, including the simplification of consular services for travel to homeland, support for national organizations to promote the mother-tongue education [5]. Bulgarian senior officials, including Presidents Zh. Zhelev in 1994 [27, p. 149] and G. Parvanov in 2003 [9, p. 124], during their visits to Ukraine repeatedly visited places of compact settlement of . Relations with Serbia regarding the Bulgarian national minority is far from straightforward. One of the most important issues continues to be the population of “Western Provinces” - border areas (cities Tsaribrod-Dimitrovgrad and Bosilegrad with the surrounding area), which moved from Bulgaria to Serbia under Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1919) [26, p. 49-49]. Bulgarian leadership sought to establish closer contacts with the local population, and therefore required to recognize their minority status and adherence to cultural rights. Discussions on “Western Provinces” is often dominated by the agenda of the Bulgarian-Yugoslav negotiations, particularly during the meeting of leaders of the Balkan countries in Crete (1997) [3, s. 168]. In the first half of 1990’s part of the Bulgarian elite proposed to increase pressure on Belgrade, which was in a quandary because of internal conflicts and international sanctions, in order to gain the rights of Bulgarians living in Serbia. Since 1992, when Bulgaria appealed to the UN Sanctions Committee to allow humanitarian assistance to the Serbian Bulgarians, which are particularly affected by the embargo imposed by UN [1, p. 132], and offered to put the issue of infringing on the rights of the Bulgarian minority to the London Conference on the former Yugoslavia [40, p. 79], there was the internationalization of the issue. Particularly heated debate between representatives of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia was opened in 1994 - early 1995 in the framework of the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations in Geneva, and the Bulgarian position supported by the United States. The coming to power of Bulgarian Socialists in early 1995 led to the collapse of activities in this area through the efforts of the new leadership to establish friendly relations with Yugoslavia [1, p. 133-138]. Bulgarian-Albanian relations on national issues developed ambiguously. Bulgarian scientists and authorities refer the ethnic group Gorani as the Bulgarians, but Serbs and Macedonians also believe that Gorani are their compatriots. At the same time, most call this ethnic group "Bugareshi" - Bulgarians [42, p. 205]. Their number is not less than 25 thousand people. The main settlement area is boundary regions in Albania, Macedonia and partially recognized Kosovo. As Gorani practice as well as the surrounding population, the main ethno-forming factor is the language [10, p. 12]. Bulgarian leadership has repeatedly appealed to the government of Albania and asked to enter the column "Bulgarian" in the census lists, to consolidate the status of a national minority by the Bulgarians. However, Albania occupies uncertain position, arguing that the issue should be resolved as a result of negotiations with Bulgaria and Macedonia, which also considers Gorani as part of its people [2].

1. Банчев Б. Въпросът за българското малцинство в Югославия според документацията на ООН от 1994-1995 година / Б. Банчев // Исторически преглед. - 2009. - № 1-2. - С. 131-140. 2. Бобев Б. Единствено от нашите сънародници в Албания зависи дали ще се официализира статутът им като малцинство [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://www.focus-news.net/?id=f15228 3. Василев Б. България-Сърбия: Шансове и проблеми пред междусъседските отношения / Б. Василев // Regionalni razvoj i integracja Balkana u strukture EU – Balkanska raskrsca i alternative / Izd. D. Stjepanovic-Zaharijevski, S. Stojkovic. – Nis: SVEN, 2004. – S. 163-175. 4. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года: / Федеральная служба гос. статистики. - Т. 4 : Национальный состав и владение языками, гражданство [Электронный ресурс]. - Режим доступа: http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/perepis_itogi1612.htm 5. Договір про дружні відносини і співробітництво між Україною і Республікою Болгарією [Електронний ресурс]. - Режим доступу: http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/100_003 6. Закон за българите, живеещи извън Република България (11.04.2000) [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://www.lex.bg/bg/laws/ldoc/2134916612 7. Закон за българското гражданство [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://www.lex.bg/bg/laws/ldoc/2134446592 8. Закон за изменение и допълнение на Закона за българското гражданство // Държавен вестник. - 2010. - № 33. - С. 1-2. 9. Іванов Є. В. Національний розвиток болгарської діаспори в контексті болгарсько-українських взаємин / Є. В. Іванов // Актуальні проблеми вітчизняної та всесвітньої історії. - 2006. - Вип. 9. - С. 114-126. 10. Калфин И. Българите по света и държавна политика / Калфин И [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://www.dnevnik.bg/getatt.php?filename=o_463128.pdf 11. Конституция на Република България. - София: СИБИ, 2009. - 51 с. 12. Кои са новите министри? // Капитал. - 2009. - № 29. - С. 12-15. 13. Мельник С. Етнічне та мовне розмаїття України: Аналітичний огляд ситуації / С. Мельник, С. Черничко. - Ужгород: ПоліПрінт, 2010. - 164 с. 14. Постановление № 19 на Министерският съвет относно преобразуване на Агенцията за българите в чужбина в Държавна агенция за българите в чужбина и за приемане на нейния устройствен правилник (10.02.2000) [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://pris.government.bg/prin/document_view.aspx?DocumentID=7pv88OEFvjy%2 bkzes6BQr6Q== 15. Постановление № 103 на Министерският съвет за осъществяване на образователна дейност сред българите в чужбина (31.05.1993) [Електронен

ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://www.minedu.government.bg/opencms/export/sites/mon/left_menu/documents/ decree/pms_103-93_obr_chuzbina.pdf

16. Постановление № 180 на Министерският съвет относно създаване на Агенция за българите в чужбина (07.09.1992) [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://pris.government.bg/prin/document_view.aspx?DocumentID=YY1uC8mP7h2% 2bzb3FfVbGUw== 17. Постановление № 228 на Министерският съвет относно приемане на граждани на Република Македония за студенти в държавните висши училища

на Република България (20.05.1997) [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://pris.government.bg/prin/document_view.aspx?DocumentID=b7FPAjPINvTHw v7wCQ55xg== 18. Постановление № 338 на Министерският съвет за българските неделни училища в чужбина (08.12.2011) // Държавен вестник. - 2011. - № 99. - С. 95-98. 19. Програма на Правителството на европейската интеграция, икономическия растеж и социалната отговорност [Електронен ресурс]. – Режим на достъп: http://www.europe.bg/upload/docs/GovernmentalProgramme_final_bg.pdf 20. Програма на Правителството на европейското развитие на България [Електронен ресурс]. – Режим на достъп: http://www.strategy.bg/FileHandler.ashx?fileId=960 21. Програма на правителството на Република България, 1997-2001 [Електронен ресурс]. – Режим на достъп: http://sun450.government.bg/old/bg/oficial_docs/index.html 22. Протокол «А» № 183 от заседание на Политбюро на ЦК на БКП на 1 семтември 1989 г. [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://www.nbu.bg/webs/historyproject/dokumenti_63- 89/razdel7t8/f1bop68ae3748.pdf 23. Проучването на числеността на българските общности зад граница е част от дейността на ДАБЧ [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://www.aba.government.bg/?show=38&nid=997 24. Решение № 146 от 12 март 2009 г. на Министерския съвет на Република България «За приемане и актуализиране на национални програми за развитие на среднето образование» [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://pris.government.bg/prin/file_view.aspx?did=41771&pid=39054 25. Роден език и култура зад граница [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://frognews.bg/news_13894/Roden_ezik_i_kultura_zad_granitsa/ 26. Сальков А. П. Территориальная проблема в болгаро-югославских отношениях 1919 – 1949 гг. / А. П. Сальков // Вопросы истории. – 2008. - № 5. – С. 46-63. 27. Силка, О. М. Українсько-болгарські політичні та економічні відносини в 90-х роках ХХ століття / О. М. Силка // Вісник Київського національного університету імені Тараса Шевченка. - Серія: Історія. - 2003. - Вип. 68-70. - С. 148-151. 28. Становништво: Вероисповест, матерњи jезик и национална припадност. - Београд: Републички завод за статистику, 2013. - 302 с. 29. Стратегия за национална сигурност на Република България // Държавен вестник. – 2011. - № 19. – С. 72-86. 30. Управленска програма на Правителството на Република България «Хората са богатството на България» [Електронен ресурс]. – Режим на достъп: http://www.iriasl.org/files/government_program1.pdf 31. Устройственен правилник на Държавната агенция за българите в

чужбина (21.02.2000) [Електронен ресурс]. - Режим на достъп: http://pris.government.bg/prin/document_view.aspx?DocumentID=7pv88OEFvjy%2 bkzes6BQr6Q== 32. Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit: Ausländische Bevölkerung: Ergebnisse des Ausländerzentralregisters. - Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt, 2012. - 134 s. 33. Censos 2011 Resultados Definitivos - Portugal. - Lisboa: Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P., 2012. - 559 p. 34. Kofos E. Yugoslav-Bulgarian Relations from 1955 to 1980 / Е. Kofos // Modern and Contemprorary Macedonia: History, Economy, Society, Culture / Ed. by J. Koliopoulos, J. Hassiotis. – Vol. 2. – Athens; Thessaloniki, 1992. – P. 77-80. 35. Kosovo Population and Housing Census 2011: Final Results: Main data / Kosovo Agency of Statistics [Electronic resource]. - Mode of access: http://esk.rks- gov.net/rekos2011/repository/docs/Final%20Results_ENG.pdf 36. La popolazione straniera residente in Italia al 1° gennaio 2009 / Instituto nazionale di statistica [Electronic resource]. - Mode of access: http://www.istat.it/salastampa/comunicati/non_calendario/20091008_00/testointegral e20091008.pdf 37. Populaţia pe naţionalităţi şi localităţi, în profil teritorial [Electronic resource]. - Mode of access: http://www.statistica.md/public/files/Recensamint/Recensamintul_populatiei/vol_1/6 _Nationalitati_de_baza_ro.xls 38. Population and Housing Censuses 2011: Press Release, 14 December 2012 / Instituto Nacional de Estadistica [Electronic Resource]. - Mode of access: http://www.ine.es/en/prensa/np756_en.pdf 39. Structura etnicā a populaţiei [Electronic resourse]. - Mode of access: http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=0&judet_id=0&localitate_id=0 40. The International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia: Official Papers / Ed. by B. G. Ramcharan. – Vol. 1. – Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1997. – 1175 p. 41. Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported / U.S. Census Bureau [Electronic resource]. - Mode of access: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=A CS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table 42. Vickers M. Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity / M. Vickers, J. Pettifer. - London: C. Hurst & Co, 1999. - 327 p.