Bulgaria's foreign minister harshly criticized the campaign for nominating the death-sentenced medics in Libya for MEPs and accused the opposition of taking advantage of their plight.

"It is wrong to make attempts to nominate the jailed medics," Minister Ivaylo Kalfin said and advised the opposition to set its sight on "more serious stuff".

According to him it is much more important for Bulgaria to send eighteen MEPs working at full throttle. "These MEPs will have the power to do much more about the medics," Minister Kalfin.

The campaign for nominating the death-sentenced medics for MEPs have split Bulgarian politicians and media in an unprecedented way.

The right-wing party "Order, Rule of Law and Justice", led by Yane Yanev, turned out to be the only one to back the campaign and decided to list them as the first six candidates on their ticket in the upcoming May 20 elections.

The idea, born a month ago, gained further momentum after the nurses and the only acquitted defendant in the HIV trial, doctor Zdravko Georgiev, warmly embraced it.

Opponents, however, say the move poses a huge risk as it is not realistic to expect all six medics getting elected, which may give a powerful advantage to Qaddafi.

Another problem is that existing legislation precludes Bulgarian citizens who have not lived in the country for the three months prior to the elections from voting or running for an MEP seat.

The five Bulgarian nurses have spent the past eight years in a Libyan jail and this prevents them from taking part in the upcoming May 20 elections. They have been accused of deliberately starting a HIV epidemic in the children's hospital ward in Benghazi.

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