REGIONBulgaria probes suspected misbehavior in office pertaining to issue of passports to MacedoniansPublished 8 hours agoon October 30, 2018By Makfax
Bulgarian authorities said they have launched an investigation into suspected wrongdoing of public servants who are believed to have sold out birth certificates to prove Bulgarian origin of non-
Bulgarian and non-EU citizens. In return, the non-Bulgarian applicants obtained Bulgarian passports and citizenship.
Media in Bulgaria say mainly citizens of Macedonia, Ukraine and Moldova had been paying 5.000 euros for fake certificate, one of the main prerequisites to acquire Bulgarian IDs and travel documents. The authorities suspect that 30 to 40 passports with counterfeit birth certificates had been issued per week.
“Scores of public servants have been detained on suspicion of corrupt practices, abuse of office, and forging documents,” organized-crime prosecutors said.
Among the 20 detainees is a high-ranking dignitary who played a key role in neutralization of foreign nationals. Namely, he is the head of a department that issues certificates of Bulgarian origin to foreigners once they prove that at least one of their grandparents was or is Bulgarian.
According to local media, Bulgaria issues around 10.000 passports to non-European Union foreigners per year. Thousands of people from countries such as Moldova and Macedonia have taken up Bulgarian citizenship in the past few years, and many more are on the waiting list
