Bulgaria's Parliament Rejects Land Act Veto

Bulgarian Parliament rejected on Tuesday President Rosen Plevneliev's veto on the Agricultural Land Ownership Act, hours after it was reversed by a committee.

Lawmakers defused Plevneliev's move by an absolute majority of 127, with none against or abstaining, as the opposition party GERB did not take part in the vote, Dnevnik.bg reports.

MPs from ultra-nationalist Ataka said that it was in their interest to protect Bulgaria's land and therefore had to act against the veto.

Svetla Bachvarova, who presides over the Agricultural Committee that earlier successfully retracted the veto, argued that Bulgaria was the only country in Europe without any legal framework to protect land as a national fortune.

Under the new Agricultural Land Ownership Act, rights over agricultural land can be obtained by natural or legal persons that have resided or have been registered in Bulgaria for a period of over 5 years.

Plevneliev believes it would prevent more than 2 million Bulgarians living abroad from acquiring land.

He says the measures stipulated by the act do not create conditions encouraging Bulgarian expatriates, who usually leave for lack of employment or slender payment, to engage in business activities in their homeland.