Controversial Election Law Strains Bulgaria's Ruling Coalition
A Bulgarian government coalition party on Wednesday walked out of the country's parliament in protest at a controversial law effectively limiting the right of the Turkish minority to take part in European votes. The Movement of Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party boycotted the legislature over the law barring Bulgarian citizens living in other countries from taking part in the election of the country's representatives in the European Parliament in three months. Only Bulgarians with a permanent residence longer than three months would be allowed to vote, according to the law targeting citizens living in neighbouring countries, such as Turkey and Macedonia.
Bulgarian nationalists had been accusing ethnic Turks of abusing their dual citizenship by practicing "election tourism" - travelling to the country only to influence elections or otherwise draw benefits from citizenship while living and working in Turkey.
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