The suburban town of Pazardzhik in Bulgaria came out with its piece as the first ever to ban burqa among the Muslim women citing its risk to security and to safeguard trust between communities.
Full-face veils in public hinder identity and with the current situation where the influx of refugees from war-ravaged countries of Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq to Europe it possesses a security risk, the police said.
The ban angered the Muslim, which represents a portion of the town's 70,000. population.
Christian Mayor Todor Popov said he felt sick in hearing Pazardzhik is a town of Burqa "because we are a town of responsible people associated with achievement."
Muslims make up about 12 percent of Bulgaria's 7.2 million population, and most belong to a centuries-old community, largely ethnic Turks, among whom full-face veils are not common.
Popov said fine would be imposed on anyone who defies the ban, which police said was needed because the veils - which cover all but the eyes - hampered quick identification.
Only these recent years that the number of Muslim women from the Roma minority started wearing burqas igniting dislike among the nationalists to the Islam practice, and uneasy about the security.
In February 13 men, most from Pazardzhik were tried for helping people join the Islamic State group in Syria, propagating an extremist ideology and inciting to war.
The Patriotic Front Coalition, which supports the government of the move, is contemplating for a nation-wide ban on full-face veils following Islamist attacks in Paris and Brussels.
