The Bulgarian Parliament approved a bill on Thursday on the country's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by a vote of 226 to four.  

In an address to the parliament after the vote, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said NATO membership means more responsibility and Bulgaria will participate more actively in the alliance's actions around the world.

It is a great challenge for Bulgaria to be a NATO member and more efforts are needed to raise the country's living standard to the level of other NATO members, he said.

The president noted that Bulgaria's NATO membership would help "create understanding between Europe and the United States."

However, in a statement to the parliament, the four members who opposed the bill said that it is dangerous for Bulgaria to join a military alliance. The statement said 50 percent of the Bulgarian people are against the move.

In November 2002, NATO decided at its summit in Prague to invite Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia and Slovakia to join NATO. The entry of the seven countries is scheduled to be completed officially in April.

The seven countries will hand in their ratification documents to officials in Washington on March 29 in the last step to joining the alliance.

A ceremony will take place in Brussels, where NATO is based, on April 2.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2004)