Work on adoptions of Bulgarian children abroad speeds up, ministry says
Work on adoptions of Bulgarian children abroad speeds up, ministry says
Tue 02 2009 17:47 CET byPetar Kostadinov 51 Views
The number of applications for international adoptions of Bulgarian children reviewed by the Justice Ministry has gone up considerably, the ministry said in a statement on February 10. It was a response to criticism that the number of international adoptions of Bulgarian children has gone down since the country joined the European Union on January 1 2007.
Since Justice Minister Miglena Tacheva appointed her deputy Ilonka Raichinova as head of the council for international adoption at the end of 2007, the number of its sessions has tripled, the ministry said. The council is the body reviewing application for the adoption of children.
Not having regular sessions was a criticism often raised by intermediary organisations against Tacheva's predecessor, Georgi Petkanov, who resigned in the spring of 2007 citing personal reasons.
Between December 2007 and December 2008 the council has had 36 sessions, often three or four times a month, the ministry said, reviewing at least 70 applications each session and 20 files of children each session.
For the same period, a total of 372 applications for the adoption of 415 children have been made.
Tacheva has authorised the adoption of 184 children based on the work of the council. The latter has sent a total of 161 applications for the adoption of 175 children to the court.