National Assembly Chairman Georgi Pirinski met on 19 March 2008 with Günther Oettinger, Prime Minister of the German Federal State of Baden-Wurttemberg who is visiting Bulgaria.

The meeting was also attended by Silvia Alexieva and Nadia Antonova, members of the Bulgarian parliament.

The relations between Bulgaria and Baden-Wurttemberg are traditionally very active, and now in the scope of the European Union more opportunities for cooperation are opening, stated Georgi Pirinski at the meeting. He stressed that the Bulgarian Parliament and the German Federal Province’ Landtag support all the initiatives and policies of the Governments of the two countries for the development of the strategic partnership of Bulgaria with the most dynamic, from economic point of view, German province.

Günther Oettinger indicated that Germany pays a close interest in the democratic development of our country in the last fifteen years and praised the results achieved in the area of politics, economy and infrastructure. He pointed to the strong interest of the business community in Baden – Wurttemberg for joint business projects with Bulgarian partners aiming at the construction of production units and trade acceleration.

The National Assembly Chairman acquainted his German guest with the priorities of the 40th National Assembly. He emphasized that quality of life, incomes, health care and education are leading on the agenda of the society and respectively the Parliament, Government and the Civil Sector are all actively involved. In order to meet those challenges Bulgaria is willing to draw on the rich experience of Baden – Wurttemberg in conducting successful economic, social and regional policies.

In the discussion, reference was made to the cooperation in the Danube Region in which both countries are actively participating.