Six medics convicted in Libya of infecting children with HIV have arrived in Bulgaria on board a French presidential jet.
Georgi Parvanov, the Bulgarian president, pardoned them on their arrival.
The medics were held in a Libyan jail for eight and a half years.
The five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor travelled with a delegation which included the Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for foreign affairs, and Claude Gueant, chief French presidential aide.
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"Words are unnecessary... I will only hug her"
Ivaylo Nikolchovski,
son of nurse Snezhana Dimitrova |
The medical workers had been sentenced to life in jail by a Libyan court, but after recent negotiations were allowed to serve out the sentence in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian radio reported the "tremendous euphoria" at Sofia airport, where the relatives of the medics were waiting for their arrival.
"Words are unnecessary... I will only hug her," said Ivaylo Nikolchovski, son of nurse Snezhana Dimitrova.
"The French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, and the President of the European Commission, Mr Jose Manuel Barroso, welcome the agreement that has at last allowed this release and the return to Bulgaria of the nurses held for more than eight years, and of the Palestinian doctor," the French presidency said in a statement.