The State and the Bulgarians Temporarily Working in Libya in the 1970s

Abstract

The publication examines the policy of the Bulgarian state towards the Bulgarian specialists working in Libya and the reactions of the employees to the regulatory norms and circumstances. The increase in the number of Bulgarians aspiring to work in Libya is analyzed in the context of the legal and socio-economic conditions in Bulgaria, the contract clauses for hiring, and their application in practice in addition to the growing needs and possibilities of the Libyan state to hire qualified personnel. The forms of control of the Bulgarian state towards the Bulgarians working abroad, and the attempts to protect their interests, and to create a propitious living environment are studied. The behavior of Bulgarians in Libya is presented in the context of the general conditions for residence and work in Libya. The research is based on archival sources of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Bulgaria for the Cold War period and on an unprocessed file of the Bulgarian Communist Party archive.