The European Union and Libya can look forward to a «new era of relations» following the return home of medics to Bulgaria, the EU's External Relations Commissioner said Tuesday, AP reported. Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the EU has offered Tripoli a wide-ranging package of better economic and political ties _ potentially worth billions of euros (dollars) _ from the opening of markets for Libyan imports to easier travel rules as a reward for its decision to release five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor. Ferrero-Waldner, who guided negotiations on a new «memorandum» outlining closer ties with Libya to secure the medics' release, said she was elated that behind the scene talks which have dragged on for over eight years finally ended in a deal. «It is now that we can think about a new era of relations,» she told reporters after returning from Sofia and Tripoli, where she and the Cecilia Sarkozy, wife of the French president, spent the last two days in tough negotiations with Libyan officials. The medics, who were sentenced to life in prison on charges of contaminating children with the AIDS virus, arrived home in Sofia, Bulgaria, Tuesday morning on board a plane with Sarkozy and Ferrero-Waldner. She said the deal calls for closer bilateral ties between Brussels and Tripoli and hopes EU nations back the move to start full-scale talks with Libya on a binding pact on closer cooperation in October. Such a deal would include better access to Libyan goods, including its much sought after oil and natural gas reserves, agricultural goods and fish products, scholarships for students to study in Europe, and access to simplified EU visa rules for Libyan nationals.
