29 May 2008

On May 29th, 2008, National Assembly chairman Georgi Pirinski received the Norwegian parliamentary delegation, headed by Thorbjorn Jagland, Speaker of Parliament (Stortinget). The delegation, which includes Inge Lonning, president of the Lower Chamber (Lagtinget) is on official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian speaker of parliament. This is the first visit of speaker of parliament of the Kingdom of Norway to Bulgaria.
At the meeting Thorbjorn Jagland said that Bulgaria and Norway were partners in NATO and the European Union and that although Norway was not a member of the Union, his country was interested in the issues of the internal market and the Schengen agreement. He added that Norway has an increasing interest in investing in Bulgaria and that this could serve as the basis for contacts at a high political level.
Chairman Pirinski stressed that contacts between the two parliaments could contribute to more active and useful relations between Bulgaria and Norway.
Georgi Pirinski mentioned that the National Assembly has helped the accession of Bulgaria in the European Union and that the country was now facing the challenge to establish itself as a successful member. He emphasized that Bulgaria and Romania were challenged additionally by the two armed conflicts that took place in South East Europe and had notable impact on the whole region.Both Bulgaria and Romania are striving to reach the average productivity and income level of the Union, he added.
He noted that the Bulgarian government was making serious efforts to overcome the challenges, with the help of the National Assembly.
Bulgaria also faces serious problems in the energy field after closing the two blocks of the nuclear power plant “Kozloduy,” in order to comply with a precondition for accession. This leads to the increase of heating plants use having harmful effects on the environment. National Assembly Chairman noticed the crucial role of Bulgaria as a transit country in three big energy projects, namely the oil pipeline Bourgas – Alexandroupolis, the new project “South Stream” regarding natural gas transit and the “Nabukko” gas pipeline.
Thorbjorn Jagland stressed that Norway was particularly active in energy field policies and that Bulgaria was to become such an important player also and that Norway was following closely the developments of the “Nabucco” project. He also said that more than 70 thousand tourists from Norway had visited Bulgaria last year and that this fact proves the development in the tourist field.
National Assembly Chairman Georgi Pirinski mentioned the serous problems experienced by Bulgaria in the health care field and that contacts between committees of the two parliaments in this field could be very useful.
In his statement for the Media Thorbjorn Jagland underlined that the visit has given an opportunity to open a new era in the mutual relations between Bulgaria and Norway and to expand the contacts in different political and economic spheres.
Areas of common interest between Bulgaria and Norway are the cooperation in the European Union, the legal field, the sustainable development, the energy, the environmental protection. In this fields the two countries can play an active and useful role, added Chairman Pirinski.
The Norwegian delegation laid wreaths at the monument of the “Unknown soldier”.
“Our visit opens a new beginning in the relations between our countries and parliaments” wrote Thorbjorn Jagland in the official gests’ book. The delegation was greeted in the plenary hall of the National Assembly.

The Norwegian parliamentarians will confer with the National Assembly Deputy Chair Kamelia Kasabova and with leaders and members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees. On May 30th the delegation will be received by Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev and the European Affairs Committee Chairperson Mladen Cherveniakov. The delegation will also meet business representatives from Norway.

The delegation is scheduled to have an audience with the President of Bulgaria, Georgi Purvanov.