Most Bulgarians are prejudiced against minorities, particularly the large Roma population, but also against the few black, Arab and Asian immigrants in the country, according to a new study.

The Open Society Institute found that Roma, who make up around nine per cent of the population, are seen by most Bulgarians as "thieving", "dirty" and "ignorant".

By contrast, ethnic Turks, whose population is around the same size and who were stereotyped as cruel and religious fanatics during communism, are nowadays seen as "hard-working" and "entrepreneurial", the study found.

Many Bulgarians are similarly tolerant towards traditional minorities, such as Jews who are seen as "wealthy" and "businessmen", and Armenians, who were seen as "ingenious".

Among foreigners, those coming from the European Union were most well-received, while blacks were rejected, regardless of their country of origin.

Fewer than four per cent of the population wanted their children to attend a school with high numbers of black or Kurdish children, and fewer than six percent said they would enroll their children in schools with large numbers of Roma, Chinese, Vietnamese or Arab children.

In the workplace, 11 per cent of people said they would take orders from a black, Roma, Kurdish, Albanian or Vietnamese superior, while more than 44 percent were willing to work for a European boss.

Just 26 per cent of Bulgarians said they would accept Roma, Africans or Albanians as neighbours, but 55 per cent would be happy living next door to Europeans.

Only 11 per cent said they would marry a black, Roma or Kurd, while 44 percent said they would happily marry a European.