Parliament turned down the proposal for compulsory voting in the upcoming members of European  Parliament (MEP) elections.

MPs discussed MEP election regulations for over one hour on February 8, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Rightist opposition party Bulgaria People's Union (BPU) suggested the compulsory vote.

BPU representative Miroslav Mourdzhov said that Greece and Belgium introduced compulsory voting for the MEP elections. Mourdzhov said that the two countries had “ethnic problems similar to the ones in Bulgaria.“

Ultra-nationalist movement Ataka supported the proposal. Compulsory voting was going to bring about a number of positive developments, Ataka representative Pavel Shopov said. Such practices could be used to counter developments like 'ethnic' voting, said Shopov.

Representative of the ruling Coalition for Bulgaria Nadya Antonova said that compulsory voting could not counter Bulgaria's low electoral activity.

In case such regulations were introduced, nearly half of the Bulgarians will violate them, said Antonova.