Bulgaria's president approved, albeit tentatively, the bill for the election of the country's first members in the European Parliament.

Georgi Parvanov signed the decree for promulgation of the law in the State Gazette, even though expressing fears that it restricts the constitutional rights of the citizens. Otherwise, he argued, the elections will be delayed and the country discredited abroad.

"The law is a step back from the democratic traditions of Bulgaria's election legislation," Parvanov conceded.

The apple of discord is a provision, which bans from voting Bulgarian nationals, who have not been living in a EU member state at least 60 days in the last three months prior to the elections.

The provision is expected to deal a heavy blow to the showing of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, an adamant supporter of the Socialist president.

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