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by EB-Barrington 2037 days ago
Post author here:

Note that the people that live in Stolipinovo are Bulgarian. I guess you meant to say "I do not think they would be friendly to any non-Roma Bulgarian". That's an assumption that (from experience) is incorrect.

Also, I'm not American, but I get that a lot.

2 comments

> Note that the people that live in Stolipinovo are Bulgarian.

Bulgarian (Greek, Macedonian, Hungarian. or other nationalities with nation-states) has two semantic meanings: citizenship and ethnicity. So it is possible for individuals to be Bulgarian citizens, but not of Bulgarian ethnicity. Or vice versa. Someone of Bulgarian descent born in USA won't be necessarily Bulgarian-in-the-citizenship sense.

So in the grandparent case, he obviously meant "non-Roma", without regards to citizenship.

Yes, it's quite the can of worms when it comes to cultural/ethical/heritage/nationality identities in Bulgaria/the Balkans (and much of Europe).

I was clearly an outsider, I've visited Stolipinovo with other Bulgarians (non-Roma) who are also clearly outsiders, and we were all treated well.

"non-Roma Bulgarian"

are you quite sure they self-identify as Bulgarian? My experience from a different country is a different one.