Members of Bulgaria's Religious Denominations and Human Rights parliamentary committee adopted at first reading on Thursday a bill which proposes to ban the wearing of garments concealing the face in public places.

The bill proposed by the Patriotic Front (PF) was backed by MPs from the largest ruling party GERB, the junior coalition partner Reformist Bloc (RB) and the largest opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

MPs from the second largest opposition Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) abstained, demanding more precise definition of the terms “face”, “head” and “parts of the face” appearing in the proposed bill.

The interior and justice ministries and the State Agency for National Security (DANS) have also expressed their support for the bill. According to the bill, the ban will not be applicable in places of worship.

On Thursday, Sliven became the third Bulgarian city to introduce a ban on the wearing of garments concealing the face in public places.

The ban, which had been tabled by the mayor of Sliven, was adopted at a meeting of the municipal council.

The mayor said that the wearing of garments concealing the face hampers the identification of people. According to him, the introduction of the ban will increase the feeling of security among citizens.

Previously, such bans have been introduced in the cities of Pazardzhik and Stara Zagora.