No Rise Seen in Citizenship Applications from Ukraine's Ethnic Bulgarians

The number of citizenship applications from ethnic Bulgarians living in Ukraine hasn't increased, Bulgaria's Vice President Margarita Popova said on Saturday.

Granting citizenship is just one of the options available to Bulgaria to show solidarity with ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine, other include delivering humanitarian aid and granting a humanitarian status, Popova said in the town of Suhindol, according to Darik radio station.

Under Bulgaria's constitution the Vice President is exercising the power of granting or revoking citizenship. In this activity the Vice President is assisted by the Commission on Bulgarian Citizenship and Bulgarians Abroad, a standing advisory body at the President's Administration to which the citizenship applications are submitted.

Bulgarian officials said  on Tuesday that fast-track visas will be issued to ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine whose lives are considered to be in danger from the armed conflict opposing the government in Kiev to pro-Russian rebels in the country's eastern regions.

Bulgaria could also use a fast-track approach to grant Bulgarian citizenship, Popova said.

Popova's planned visit to Ukraine was cancelled last year over the situation in Crimea but she said she intended to visit by the end of her term of office.

 According to official statistics, about 204,000 ethnic Bulgarians live in Ukraine but unofficial data put the number at between 320,000-437,000, of whom 205,000-300,000 are speaking Bulgarian.