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Bulgaria 26th Out of 31 in Migrant Integration

Bulgaria is ranked 26 out of 31 states, which include the EU and North America, in the Migrant Integration Policy Index, produced by the British Council and the Migration Policy Group.

The ranking is topped by Sweden, followed by Portugal and Canada. Slovakia, Cyprus and Latvia take the last 3 places.

Since acceding to the EU in 2007, Bulgaria has remained largely a country of emigration, though immigration increased with EU membership and economic trends. Recently, Bulgaria saw more international students, slightly more asylum seekers, but few non-EU migrant workers, despite government initiatives.

Newcomers to Bulgaria will find that policies are just half-way favourable for their integration. Bulgaria's policies that best promote integration are in areas of European law. All residents can use some of the strongest anti-discrimination law in both Central Europe (along with Romania) and Europe in general.

Protections against ethnic, racial, religious and nationality discrimination apply in all areas of life with independent support and good possibilities to enforce rights. Bulgaria has implemented laws on family reunion and long-term residence, which score just below the European average, the overview for the country says.

Favourable conditions in law can nevertheless be undermined by authorities' wide discretion in procedures, a problem across Central and Eastern Europe. Beyond the negative effects of this insecurity on integration, newcomers critically lack many basic citizenship, education and political opportunities that are becoming best practice across Europe.

Restrictive access to education and limited measures to target needs make Bulgaria the second lowest scoring country on education(after Hungary). Labor market mobility is another area of weakness. Bulgaria has lowest score on general support (with Ireland)