Ekaterina Zaharieva speaking before the Bulgarian diaspora in South Africa: The greatest loss for our country during the transition was the loss of people
30 March 2018 News
"The greatest loss for Bulgaria over the past years was the loss of people. Today we have a 4 per cent growth in the economy, but just imagine what our growth would be like if you had remained. Current unemployment is about 6% and we need to import workforce from abroad."
This is what Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva told a crowd of Bulgarians living in South Africa who had gathered at the Bulgarian Community Centre in the Johannesburg suburb of Midrand.
"You have organised and created this wonderful place on your own. This proves that when united we grow this much stronger. I spoke to foreign minister Ms. Lindiwe Sisulu and she promised to help us speed up the building permit for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - it will be our first temple in Africa," Zaharieva also said.
The application to modify land use was lodged with the authorities as early as August 2016. So far, only a few of the development papers have come through. The property purchase for the future church was funded by Bulgarians living here aided by the Bulgarian government as well.
The funds raised will also cover the works. Currently, Father Yonko Ivanov, a Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox priest, serves in a Midrand chapel. "I deeply appreciate the effort of the parents and teachers at the Little Sun Bulgarian school for finding the time to tell your children about our motherland," said Zaharieva while visiting the students who gather every Saturday to learn Bulgarian language, history and traditional culture.
The deputy prime minister also briefed the the Bulgarian crowd on developments around the Bulgarian EU Council Presidency. She explained that the reason of her visit to South Africa is the meeting of the foreign ministers from the Southern African Development Community where she represents the Foreign Policy High Representative Federica Mogherini, EU’s high foreign affairs and security policy representative.
The Bulgarian first diplomat also spoke about the measures designed to reduce the administrative burden, e.g. the introduction of an electronic ID document issuance system allowing a single visit to the consular office (while applying for or receiving a document), fee reduction, the introduction of card payments (an option already up and running in Sofia as well as in 40 Bulgarian Embassies).
Our compatriots asked a number of questions, one of them about the visa regime between the Republic of Bulgaria and the RSA, frustrating family members' visits with its formality overload and high prices of visa stickers. "We are currently raising the issue at European level.
Together with ten other European countries, we are subject to a visa regime; I hope we will change this situation to achieve equal treatment for all European citizens. Every time we get united within the EU, we become stronger. You saw how we managed to negotiate our way out of Canadian visas," Zaharieva argued.
With many owning properties in Bulgaria, the audience raised the issue of local tax payments being available online. Zaharieva explained that this was up to individual municipalities, but more than half of Bulgarian municipalities have already introduced electronic payments, making going to a desk unnecessary.
At the same time, the National Revenue Agency and a number of other government institutions have long maintained online service platforms for citizens that allow a two-way communication and save time and money.
Having answered the questions from the audience in detail, secretary Zaharieva attended a Bulgarian folklore concert. The event was also attended by the first Bulgarian ambassador to the RSA, Petko Draganov, who currently heads the Foreign Ministry’s Political Affairs directorate.
"There is a saying that you are not a man until you build a house. Our embassy in Pretoria is my house," Draganov said emotionally after his visit to the diplomatic mission where he met old friends and acquaintances from the Bulgarian diaspora.
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