April 19, 2010


Bulgaria supports the accession of Serbia in the European Union and is ready to provide full assistance for its membership, said on April 19, 2010 National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva, after she met with Serbian Parliament President Slavica Djukic Dejanovic. Mrs. Djukic Dejanovic is on one-day official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of Mrs. Tsetska Tsacheva.

“We are ready to render full support and assistance in areas where there is a need because I am convinced that when the two countries are together in the European Union, it would be best for the institutions and the citizens of Bulgaria and Serbia”, said Tsetska Tsacheva. Slavica Djukic Dejanovic said any help the Bulgarian Parliament could provide to the Serbian Parliament to the road to the European Union is welcome. According to Tsacheva and Djukic Dejanovic, the parliamentary groups for friendship between the two countries should be at the heart of the dialogue between the two parliaments.

Tsetska Tsacheva shared her good impression of the legislative programme of the Serbian Parliament regarding changes related to the country's expected accession to the EU. She said the Serbian Parliament has approved some 300 legislative changes which have a bearing on EU membership

In her view, the legislatures of Bulgaria and Serbia should work for a relaxation of administrative restrictions on both sides of the common border. As a good example in this direction, she cited Serbia's decision to allow Bulgarian travelers to go through its territory only with identity cards(without international travel passports) during the current aviation crisis.

"It is important for our two neighboring countries to have good infrastructure projects, which are not available as yet," Tsacheva said. “Bulgaria and Serbia could cooperate successfully in providing fast cross-border transport and in the field of the environment”, she added.

She mentioned that the President of the Serbian parliament, Slavica Djukic Dejanovic has accepted the invitation to participate in the next meeting of the women - Heads of Parliaments of the Member States of the European Union, which is to be hosted by Bulgaria and held on 27 and 28 August 2010 in Varna. The forum will be dedicated to the Intercultural Dialogue in Europe. “Our region has a chance for new non-traditional solutions to the existing problems, due to the fact that parliamentary presidents of four Balkan countries are women”, stressed the chair of the National Assembly.

On her part, Slavica Djukic Dejanovic pointed out that parliaments of both countries are closest to the problems of citizens which are too similar. “Both sides shared the view that measures against the global economic crisis are extremely important and should be complemented with measures against organized crime and corruption”, she noted.
Djukic Dejanovic said the two sides agreed that the main committees in the two parliaments can set into motion the solution to many specific problems.

During her visit to Sofia, Slavica Djukic Dejanovic met with President Georgi Parvanov, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikolay Mladenov.