Almost 60 000 Macedonians were waiting for their Bulgarian citizenship, Bulgarian Ambassador to Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM) general Miho Mihov said.

The visa regime which has been in place since January 1 2008 for Macedonians wanting to travel to Bulgaria, has limited their travelling and increased the desire to apply for Bulgarian citizenship, Mihov said in an interview for Bulgarian news agency BTA.

Mihov said additional motives for applying for the citizenship was Bulgaria's EU membership.

According to Mihov, Bulgaria would be one of the entry points to Europe for FYRM, which was an expression of Bulgarian support for EU integration of FYRM.

Over the past several years, more than 10 000 Macedonians had received Bulgarian citizenship, while the number of applicants six times higher was than that.

Before the introduction of the visa regime, around 700 000 Macedonians would visit Bulgaria every year, but since January 1, that number has shrunk, Mihov told BTA.