A serious controversy over the citizenship of the US born Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament Georgi Pirinski erupted again providing grounds for Bulgarian nationalists to call for his dismissal.
The issue of Pirinski's Bulgarian citizenship is being put forth by the nationalistic and far right "Ataka" party which stated that it starts collecting the required 80 signatures of MPs (which is one third of all 240 MPs) to dismiss Pirinski from the parliament speaker position.
The "Ataka" party has 13 MPs but is said to get support from other opposition parliamentary groups.
"Pirinski has repeatedly broken Bulgarian laws through false declarations of his Bulgarian citizenship and through holding government positions", the leader of "Ataka" Volen Siderov said, adding that the party will refer the matter to the Constitunal Court and the Cassation Prosecutor's Office.
Pirinski replied promptly that the nationalists' claims had no legal justifications whatsoever.
Ataka's claim that Pirinski actually has no Bulgarian citizenship flared in the wake of a scandal regarding two new regulations issued by him restricting the access of journalists only to the right lobby of Bulgaria's Parliament, and shifting the position of their offices.
Pirinski was born in 1948 in New York City, USA, in the family of a Bulgarian communist functionary who immigrated to the USA in the 1920s. His family was expelled from the USA in 1953, and Pirinski renounced his US citizenship in 1974.
He grew to become deputy minister of foreign trade in 1989, and one of the leading figures in the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the successor of the Bulgarian Communist Party. In 1996 Pirinski tried to bid for the Presidency as the candidate of the BSP, but the Elections Commission refused to register him arguing that he was not a Bulgarian citizen by birth, a condition required by Artcile 93 of the Constitution.
Author: raptor, 23 Jan 2008 14:56:29
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenship
Where does the problem lie....if he was born outside Bulgaria does not mean he is disentitled to Bulgarian citizenship....his parents were obviously Bulgarian.
Art. 25.
(1) A Bulgarian citizen shall be anyone born of at least one parent holding a Bulgarian citizenship, or born on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, should he not be entitled to any other citizenship by virtue of origin. Bulgarian citizenship shall further be acquirable through naturalization.
Author: CreepyS, 23 Jan 2008 15:45:01
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenship
Pirinski's mother is American, only his father is Bulgarian and was kicked out of the US as "undesirable alien". But its interesting that the BG constitution mixes the "law of blood" and "the law of land".
For example in Japan its the law of blood so if you dont have Japanese parents you may never get a Japanese citizenship no matter whether you are born there or not (dont know whether they have naturalization procedure).
In the US its the law of land - anyone born on the land is American no matter who the parents are and how long the person stayed in the US.
Author: Kolega, 23 Jan 2008 18:27:29
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Creepy,
yet US citizens through naturalization, aren't entitled to run for a President, as Pirinski obviously attempted to do at one point in BG.
The US has no choice but to base their citizenship on land vs blood.
What frustrates me is that they are imposing their notion on countries like BG, as a way of legitimizing their own unity.
Europe is very different from the US and citizenship should be based on blood, regardless of where one is born.
Author: CreepyS, 23 Jan 2008 21:39:57
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Kolega,
I guess that nowadays, the Bulgarians, both abroad and home, are close to some kind of "Blut und boden" philosophy.
http://www.shoaheducation.com/blut.html
Nationalism is an ethno-political ideology that sustains the concept of a nation-identity for an exclusive group of people. Nationalism, is the discrete or implied doctrine which holds the distinct preservation of its identity and features, its independence in all aspects, and the "glory and wellbeing" of one's own nation as a fundamental ethos.
It was popularized by Walther Darré in 1930 to establish a connection between race and land (Staudenmaie 1). For the defenders of the doctrine, the Jews were a wandering people without roots or land, and did not belong on German soil. The term “blood and soil” had been circulating for some time before Hitler or Darré, but it was the Nazis who used the doctrine as a principle of thought.
The latter excerpt is pretty much what you once wrote about our friends the BG gipsies (note I say the BG gypsies because there are other gypsies too;)).
The funny thing is that most "ethnic Bulgarians" are ready to go to the end of the world for better pay (or so they say), claim their love and attachment to BG, defend BG on internet forums and do nothing about BG themselves. So we practice some kind of a virtual "blut und boden" that doesnt make sense and doesnt deliver results as far as BG is concerned.
Why dont import more Dirks and Robins and give them BG citizenship immediately after they marry a BG woman? At any rate BG is a land where there are no enough people.
Author: Kolega, 23 Jan 2008 23:42:39
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
"Why dont import more Dirks and Robins and give them BG citizenship immediately after they marry a BG woman?"
Last thing firs: Dirk and Robin have nothing in common. I am all for more Robins.
"I guess that nowadays, the Bulgarians, both abroad and home, are close to some kind of "Blut und boden" philosophy."
The concept of nationalism was born in the French revolutions, as a substitute to the Monarchial loyalties.
Those ideal were also an important element of the liberation movements in Greece and the rest of the Balkan Christians in the 1800's, which where our own nationalism dates from - nothing to do with the Germans.
Attributing ideas to the 1930's Germany is a tired way of delegitimizing philosophies.
"The funny thing is that most "ethnic Bulgarians" are ready to go to the end of the world for better pay (or so they say), claim their love and attachment to BG, defend BG on internet forums and do nothing about BG themselves."
I don't see how that is funny.
It goes straight to the point that land doesn't matter. Regardless where one resides, it couldn't possibly change one's nationality.
(Sorry if that goes against your newly discovered "Germanic" characteristics;)
Author: CJB, 23 Jan 2008 23:57:28
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
"The concept of nationalism was born in the French revolutions, as a substitute to the Monarchial loyalties."
Maybe "Modern" nationalism as has been understood since then, and especially in C19th. But concepts of the nation state are much older than that, and the 'nation' as a concept has disputed historical origins, and may be very ancient.
An example from Wikipedia:
"Recent general theory has looked at underlying issues, and above all the question of which came first, nations or nationalism. Nationalist activists see themselves as representing a pre-existing nation, and the primordialist theory of nationalism agrees. It sees nations, or at least ethnic groups, as a social reality dating back twenty thousand years.
The modernist theories imply that until around 1800, almost no-one had more than local loyalties. National identity and unity were originally imposed from above, by European states, because they were necessary to modernize economy and society. In this theory, nationalist conflicts are an unintended side-effect. For example, Ernest Gellner argued that nations are a by-product of industrialization. Modernization theorists see such things as the printing press and capitalism as necessary conditions for nationalism."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism
Author: CreepyS, 24 Jan 2008 09:41:00
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Kolega,
I think the similarities of the modern Balkan nationalism with the 1930s German one are obvious and have led to such things like Srebrenica, Kosovo etc. Now, if you think that I insist these ideas literally come from Germany, you are wrong - I only say the analogy is quite remarkable no matter how the concept was forged and which influences were stronger.
Go and tell the Serbs that land doesnt matter so they better give up Kosovo and you will see whether you are right or wrong;)
As for "my newly discovered Germanic characteristics" Im not total sure what are you talking about so Ill leave it without comment.
Author: CreepyS, 24 Jan 2008 10:08:15
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Because, according to Kolega, land doesnt matter for the Bulgarians, I also suggest that the districts with predominantly Turkish population become autonomous;) So you see, Kolega, we somehow link land and nationality together.
Actually, I just googled this and found the German version of the "blood and soil" concept by accident - in fact I was never interested in such things but I suppose thats what our Ataka folks are trying to say. Any Ataka folks here to explain in more details?
Author: CreepyS, 24 Jan 2008 12:05:42
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
"It goes straight to the point that land doesn't matter. Regardless where one resides, it couldn't possibly change one's nationality."
Difficult to say. It all depends on how much time and at what age someone resides in the country. If you are born in some country and live there till the age of 30 for example and both your parents are from another country and culture, you feel more like you are from the host country, no matter what your parents teach you at home.
Now, denying someone the right to identify with a certain nationality according to the personal feeling and experience of that person, especially when the person is born and grew up on the land and is fully integrated, takes us right to the primitive nationalistic concept in which other people tell you where do you belong and why. Thats what some people still practice in the Balkans and in BG.
Author: Kolega, 24 Jan 2008 18:01:49
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Creepy:
"It all depends on how much time and at what age someone resides in the country."
No, it all depends on what country you are talking about.
As you pointed out Japan is one of those, where it matters not how many times over you happen to be born there, if you are white or black - you are foreign.
Creepy, you have our permission to feel German (that's what I meant BTW) or Japanese if you like, but privately I have to be honest that you are as German as I am American, which of course is pretty ridiculous.. we both know what we are.
Now, when it comes to second generation, (a sensitive area for me) it's much more logical to assume the identity of the host country in a place like the US, which is not a nation state.
Your offsprings in Germany, can call themselves German (which is sure to provoke different types of "smile" in the different types of Germans) but they will always know what they are.
Germany is not America, and any attempt to ignore that fact may bring about the periodic calamities Europe is known for.
I look at mental separation from the country of your employment, as a sign of respect for it.
People that move somewhere and adopt the place immediately (with its inevitable very human instinct of wanting to change it to their standards), I find presumptuous and rude.
With other words - there are no more than 5 proverbial minutes, between making someone feel at home, and them wanting to change your curtains - humanity Creepy.
Author: CJB, 24 Jan 2008 18:15:44
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
"there are no more than 5 proverbial minutes, between making someone feel at home, and them wanting to change your curtains"
Curtains? How quaint. What you need instead are blinds!
Author: resipsaloquitur, 24 Jan 2008 18:25:58
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Hello Kolega,
in my opinion second and third generation foreigners,who were born and reside in Germany feel like Germans.
The children of my South Korean friend,Sun Ha, who look very much like her and NOT like the German father(who actually is also dark as he was born in Argentina to German parents),
do NOT feel like Koreans.
Probably they are also as OUR Taro asked:"Woher kommen Sie?"
but they are Germans...in their feelings for the country;in their behavious,habits,customs a.s.o.
Author: CreepyS, 24 Jan 2008 18:45:55
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Kolega,
You must be kidding me - how can I feel a German or a Belgian when I left BG at the age of 29?? One would be a very cheap person to pretend such things as its obvious for the locals that youre not from the "village". Much better to state clearly who you are, in my case a Bulgarian.
Now, for people who are exposed to the culture and the system of the host country from an early age, its a different story and a source of a lot of confusion and discomfort, especially if race comes into place.
Author: resipsaloquitur, 24 Jan 2008 19:29:45
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Hello creepy,
Kolega is right...NOT just in Bulgaria but in the entire EUROPE when it comes to nationalizing somebody,
the so called ANCESTORS PRINCIPAL applies.
In USA the Family law uses The TERRITORIAL PRINCIPAL...it means everybody born on USDA soil,has the right to apply for USA citizenship.
the husband of my Brazilian friend,who has Italian ancestors,recently received an Italian passport.
he had to present the birthcertificates of his Grandfather to the Town hall in Verona...and some months later,he was an Italian citizen.
Author: Kolega, 24 Jan 2008 19:44:06
Controversy Erupts Again over Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Citizenshi
Right,
but I am willing to bet you that the real Germans regard them as Koreans (or Chinese more likely).
I see it all the time in the States, what's left for Germany.
Asian's just can't believe that they are not white, move with the whites, marry them and seem very outraged when someone mistakes them for Asian national, yet in their own countries they will never except forigners and allow them to integrate.
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