Will Bulgarian emigrants return to this country?

published on 4/23/10 10:11 AM

The history of Bulgarian emigration started over a century ago. Some 35 000 people went beyond the ocean then as “a first wave”. Nowadays there are over 200 000 Bulgarian emigrants in the USA. The European continent has also given shelter to hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians. The Institute for Economic Policy is the institution that has dealt with the problems of Bulgarian emigration for the past years. One of the CEOs of the Institute Yassen Georgiev maped out the development of the emigration process, reminding the sad 1990s expression “brain leakage” at a discussion called “Bulgaria – from emigration to migration”. The money transfers from abroad were determined as a positive migration phenomenon. Statistics of the World Bank says that they have been constantly increasing through the years. The larger part of the real estate trade in this country also was driven by emigrants’ money. Mr. Assen Assenov is a Bulgarian emigrant, a University lecturer in Washington. He participated at the meeting as Chair of the Center of the Bulgarian community in the American capital. According to him the Bulgarian emigrants gather in this centre in order to preserve their language, traditions and believes, and also to help each other. Mr. Assenov also says that students and latest emigrants have the greatest chance to return to Bulgaria, since they haven’t created their own families and lasting contacts so far.

“We are one of the most educated emigrant communities – Mr. Assenov claims. – The Bulgarians in America are extremely successful and I am a witness to their successes every day. I often hear from my colleagues how good the Bulgarian children, studying at their universities, are. We shouldn’t trick ourselves – the crisis won’t force the Bulgarians to return to Bulgaria. The mass returning of Bulgarian intellectuals from the USA is impossible and not realistic, but there are many different ways these people to be useful to Bulgaria. Our fellow countrymen most often declare that they do not plan to return for the time being, but we make our best to preserve our roots in Bulgaria.”

Mrs. Vessela Kovacheva, another participant in the discussion is a true example for the “brain leakage” phenomenon. She graduated “International Relations” in Bulgaria, got her master degree in Germany and then returned to this country, hoping to start work. She then received a few refusals with the motivation that since she was highly qualified she probably wouldn’t stay in Bulgaria for too long. Thus her decision to leave the state came by itself. Vessela has been working as a researcher at Hamburg Institute for International Economics for 4 years now. She has gained a lot of impressions from her countrymen in Germany and is convinced now that even if he or she becomes a German citizen, a Bulgarian is a Bulgarian. Here is her story about Hamburg:

“There are only 2 400 Bulgarians, officially registered there. They don’t seem to be so many, but there is a Bulgarian school in Hamburg. As far as I know, the Bulgarian state doesn’t support it and there are negotiations at the moment for providing free textbooks to it. We also enjoy our Bulgarian Orthodox church. The new Bulgarian priest will be enthroned soon, since it is hard to find a German one that is ready to perform these duties. The German-Bulgarian association “Hamburg”, the Bulgarian folklore dances ensemble and the club of the Bulgarian women are parts of the emigration organizations that play a key role to our community there. They ease the integration of the new coming Bulgarians, but also take care of the preservation and popularization of the Bulgarian culture in Germany.”

English: Zhivko Stanchev

По публикацията работи: Lina Ivanova

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