British Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed his strong support for Bulgaria joining the EU as scheduled in 2007.

Speaking to reporters after talks in Downing Street with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov on Tuesday, Blair voiced his country's support for the Balkan state, despite concerns that it has yet to make the grade.

"I hope we are going to get a positive decision quickly, because I would like to see Bulgaria's accession go ahead as planned on1 January, 2007," said Blair with Parvanov at his side.

The British premier recalled that the European Commission will report in the middle of May on whether Bulgaria and Romania are ready for accession on January 1 next year.

EU leaders will then decide at the spring summit in Brussels, due in June, whether to usher them formally into the bloc of 25.

Bulgaria has achieved significant progress by becoming a stable and reliable NATO ally. The next step for the country will be joining the EU, Blair added.

Bulgarian President said he appreciated that Blair regards Bulgaria as "a stable, reliable, predictable partner within NATO, and hopefully (we) will be likewise within the European Union from 1 January 2007".

The UK would continue assisting Bulgaria's attempts to find a permanent solution and put an end to the torturous trial of five Bulgarian nurses in Libya, it also emerged after the meeting.

Talking about the possibility of removing the visa regime for Bulgarians, Blair was non-committal, specifying only that the idea was under constant review and that he was aware of the "strong feelings" involved.

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