About 800 thousand Bulgarians migrate every year as seasonal workers. This was stated by Valentina Vasilyonova, President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions in Agriculture at CITUB. 

According to her, north-west Bulgaria (the poorest region in the country) is notorious for its high number of migrant workers. 

"Seasonal work' in the EU, and in agriculture in particular, is a particularly important issue and a highly problematic one for us as trade unions," she said. She said that seasonal workers migrating to Europe are often vulnerable in terms of employment contracts, regulated working hours, social security, accommodation and working conditions, and advised them to do their research before going to another country to work.