September 23, 2008

National Assembly Chairman Georgi Pirinski received on September 23, 2008 a Swiss delegation, headed by Hans-Jurg Kaser, President of the Executive Council of the Canton of Bern and Executive Concillor for internal affairs, civil defense and military matters.

The meeting was attended by the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee Chairman Yanaki Stoilov, by the Civil Society and Media Committee Chairman Ivo Atanassov, by MPs Donka Mihailova and Neno Dimov. Representatives of the non for profit association “Balkan Assist”, on whose invitation is the visit were also present.

Citizens' protection in cases of disaster, municipalities problems and the bill on citizens' direct involvement in governance, adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament on first reading, featured on the agenda of the discussions.

Pirinski told the guests that this range of issues is among the priorities of the 40th National Assembly. He explained that, currently, issues,related to the municipalities, particularly, in the field of public services and the building up of infrastructure, as well as citizens' protection in disaster and emergency situations are a subject of a broad public discussion. He expressed his hope for fruitful future relations between Bulgaria and the Canton of Bern as an extension to the process of development of the bilateral relations.

On his part, Kaser shared with his hosts Switzerland's experience in the holding of referendums and voiced readiness for active support.
He shared his satisfaction with the active cooperation between the Swiss canton and the Bulgarian association “Balkan Assist”.