Page "Macedonia (region)" Paragraph 16

As of 2000, Bulgaria started to grant Bulgarian citizenship to members of the Bulgarian minorities in a number of countries, including the Republic of Macedonia.

The vast majority of the applications have been from Macedonian citizens.

As of May 2004, some 14, 000 Macedonians had applied for a Bulgarian citizenship on the grounds of Bulgarian origin and 4, 000 of them had already received their Bulgarian passports.

According to the official Bulgarian sources, in the period between 2000 to 2006 some 30 000 Macedonian citizens applied for Bulgarian citizenship, attracted by the Bulgaria's recent positive development and the opportunity to get European Union passports after Bulgaria joined EU on the beginning of 2007.

In 2006 the former Macedonian Premier and chief of IMRO-DPMNE Ljubčo Georgievski became a Bulgarian citizen.