TWO OF Dundee’s Bulgarian residents say Scotland has nothing to fear from their home country’s accession to the EU, and believe the prediction that 1000 Bulgarians will make their way to the City of Discovery is exaggerated.

Abertay University students Stefan Konsulov (25) and Aneliya Yaneva (23) reckon that the number of immigrants to Scotland will be minimal, and those who do make the journey will be short-term and beneficial to the local economy.

A report published last week by Abertay University Professor Nikolai Zhelev predicted that there will be around 1000 new Bulgarian immigrants entering the country this year.

Bulgaria now benefits from more relaxed UK immigration laws since its accession to the EU last week, although local officials say there have been no new immigrants to the city since January 1.

The Dundee-based Bulgarian Consulate of Scotland reckons that Aneliya was the last person to come to Dundee from Bulgaria under the previous Home Office laws, even though she entered the country on a student visa three months ago.

She encountered few difficulties in obtaining the visa under the old system and she reckons relaxation of the UK law’s will not be the huge immigration incentive that many have predicted.

She said, “International students are big business in Scotland and we contribute massive amounts of money in tuition fees, in living costs and in consumer spending.

“When I finish my degree I’ll probably travel on to do a masters in somewhere like America or Canada, and then I plan to go home and settle in Bulgaria.

“The quality of life there is really good and there’s lots of opportunities for me at home once I’m educated and can sell my skills.

“I think the EU is a good thing for the sharing of ideas, the sharing of culture and building bridges between the member countries, and I don’t think anyone should feel threatened by it expansion.”

Stefan has studied in Dundee for two-and-a-half years and recently returned from a short visit to Bulgaria.

He said, “I don’t know why anyone would want to leave Bulgaria to come here as it is actually quite difficult to get a job in Scotland compared to the number of opportunities that are opening up back home.

“Most of the work is seasonal and unskilled so you’ll probably see a large number coming over in the spring for jobs like berry-picking.

“As for the skilled jobs, I think England would be a better draw because there is a perception that there is more money in the bigger cities than in the semi-rural areas.”