Accessibility of the Bulgarian Social Protection System to Foreigners

The paper’s aim is to assess the accessibility of the Bulgarian social protection system for different categories of foreigners, both EU citizens and third country nationals, as well as Bulgarian citizens residing in the country and abroad. The social protection areas covered by the paper include health, family benefits, unemployment, guaranteed minimum income and different types of pensions. In addition, the paper also provides and overview of several bilateral social security agreements that Bulgaria has concluded with third countries, which are considered in light of the main countries of origin of migrants in Bulgaria. Where possible the legal assessment of the accessibility of the Bulgarian social protection system is backed up by empirical data gathered as part of the PhD project “Circular migration from the Eastern partnership countries to the EU – the rights of migrant workers in Bulgaria and Poland”.