Meeting with the Chargé d'affaires of the British Embassy
07 February 2013 Diplomatic CalendarThe Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ivan Sirakov, today received the Chargé d'affairesof the British Embassy, Catherine Barber. She confirmed the official British position that the limitations on access by Bulgarian and Romanian citizens to the UK labour market will fall away on January 1 2014. Bulgaria received an assurance that there will be no discrimination against citizens of Bulgaria and Romania.
Ms Barber also announced that it was expected that a detailed response would be received soon from the British Minister for Europe, David Lidington, on the topic of work permits for Bulgarian students. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov sent a letter in mid-January to his British counterpart setting out specific proposals for reducing the time required for obtaining work permits for students.