A lamppost in a village near Blagoevgrad is the address for thousands of Macedonians holding a Bulgarian passport, and is a part of the grand scheme of a sale of Bulgarian citizenships for money, said Katja Maneva in an interview for EU Observer. She is a former director for citizenships at the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. She has worked there until 2016, when she was fired, because, as she says, she has refused to participate in the illegal approval of Bulgarian citizenships in return for money.
Mateva said that the mayor of the village near Blagoevgrad has registered an address at the lamppost in order to evidence the Bulgarian address for the citizens of Macedonia who have requested a certificate for their Bulgarian origins.
-Thousands of people are registered to live on the address of this lamppost – explains the former director at the Ministry of Justice.
In October, the Bulgarian police has arrested several noted citizens among whom is Petar Haralampiev, the Director of the State’s Agency for the Bulgarians Living Abroad. But Mateva says that nothing has stopped with his arrest and people still pay 500 to 7000 euros and not only to conmen, but bribery is asked from people to whom the documentation is complete and tidy.
