EU success for Bulgarian medics

11.11.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 24th Jul 2007

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor (now with Bulgarian citizenship), who last week had their death sentences for allegedly contaminating Libyan children with HIV overturned, have now been freed and have returned home.

Welcoming the news, London's Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford said:

"This fantastic outcome shows what the EU can achieve when it works with purpose and determination. Before Bulgaria joined the EU there was no progress over 7 years, but with a united EU behind them, results ensue."

"I hope they can make a speedy recovery from what has been a very prolonged ordeal. Reforms in the Libyan justice system are urgently necessary, not least the abolition of the death penalty."

"The EU has rightly donated considerable aid for treatment and care for the affected Libyan children and their families. But this was out of humanitarian concern, not because any guilt or liability was accepted."

"A new chapter in EU-Libya relations beckons, but it must be based on respect for human rights."