January 11, 2010, Brussels

Jerzy Buzek: Welcome, Madam President! Thank you for this visit. It is time to hold discussions between the European Parliament and one of the national parliaments.

Congratulations on the occasion of the Turnovo Constitution’s 130th anniversary! Thank you for the opportunity to watch the film for the first Bulgarian National Assembly.

We discussed many important issues related to the cooperation between the European Parliament and the national parliaments. It became clear that there is no need to introduce new bureaucratic elements in our cooperation. Contacts between parliamentary committee chairs and rapporteurs on national and European level must be established. National parliaments will undertake the important role of the overall legislative process of the Community.

We discussed many important economic issues in the EU and some of the Member States, such as the difficulties in respect to energy supplies from last winter. Let's hope that the same will not happen again this winter, a situation of lack of gas supply in the course of two weeks. Let's hope that Bulgaria and Slovakia will have a better winter!

We discussed the pressing issues on the agenda of the Bulgarian government, some of which we had touched upon with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria four months ago. Topics related to the state of the home affairs, the judiciary, the effective fight against organized crime. The Prime Minister, and now the Chairwoman of the Parliament of Bulgaria are taking upon themselves the full responsibility for introducing effective measures against the organized crime. At our meeting in Stockholm, next May, we with Mrs. President will have the opportunity to continue these discussions.

Thank you, Madam President for the invitation to visit Bulgaria. This was great news for me!

Tsetska Tsacheva: I am extremely grateful to Mr. Buzek , for the fact that in these tense days, when the European Pparliament is holding hearings of the candidates for commissioners, he has given me the time and has made this meeting possible.

I shared with satisfaction the priorities, he outlined, for his presidency of the European Parliament - namely overcoming the differences between the old and new member states of the European Union.

I am respected by his good knowledge and understanding of the existing problems in Bulgaria and in particular those pertaining to our social and political life and the problems faced by the Bulgarian Parliament and Government. His concern for Bulgaria's energy field and our energy strategy is a concern of the Bulgarian Parliament as well. I am particularly pleased that Mr. Buzek accepted the invitation to visit Bulgaria and it would occur soon after Mrs. Rumyana Jeleva, in his words, future commissioner, assumes her duties, starting on February 1, 2010.

This meeting made me confident that in the face of Mr. Buzek, the Bulgarian National Assembly will have a goodwill partner, who will listen to our problems. And as he stressed, in international plan, the connections between the heads of national parliaments and him as President of the European Parliament will find the correct directions, so that the Lisbon Treaty may find its real implications in our daily lives.

Thank you, Mr. Buzek for making this meeting, as well as the presentation of the documentary about the 130th anniversary of the Bulgarian Constitution possible, and also for your kind attention and presence at the film’s presentation.