Today 18 Bulgarian members of parliament will officially start their term as observers in the European Parliament. The regular session pf the EP will be opened in Strasbourg. Romania, the other country expecting EU membership in 2007, is sending 35 observers. After the signing of Bulgaria and Romania's accession treaty on April 25, the countries were invited to select their observers to the EP. The main goal of the observers will be to strengthen the relations between their countries and the EP on parliamentary and political level by learning more about EP proceedings.
The Bulgarian observers have been selected in the party representation ratio in the National Assembly. Six observers come from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) is represented by four people. Three observers come from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). The opposition parties, apart from the Union of Democratic Forces with two observers, have one observer, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.