"We continue to work for a structured state policy for Bulgarians abroad. Many strategies have been written over the years but have not been implemented. The Bulgarians Resident outside the Republic of Bulgaria Act needs to be updated in order to take into account their specificities and needs, Vice President Iliana Iotova said at a meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian community in Zagreb.

Iliana Yotova is paying a visit to Croatia at the invitation of the President of the Bulgarian National Community in Croatia Rashko Ivanov. Official data from 2021 show that 262 people in Croatia identify themselves as Bulgarians. The Bulgarian community is included in Croatia’s constitution. It is mainly made up of descendants of gardeners who settled in Croatia at the end of the 19th century and of cultural figures who settled there in the mid-twentieth century.