Tsetska Tsacheva, President of the National Assembly, talked on 20 June 2012 with the delegation of the Parliamentary Austria-Bulgaria Friendship Group at the National Council of Austria, headed by its Chairman Mario Kunasek. The visit is at the invitation of the Bulgaria-Austria Friendship Group Chairman Vladislav Dimitrov.

Bulgaria-Austria relations are based on the sound foundation of friendship, cooperation and partnership, said the President of the Parliament. Tsetska Tsacheva emphasized that as President of the National Assembly she personally promoted the activation of contacts between the parliamentary committees and friendship groups. In her words, the cooperation between the Members of Parliament from the two countries has good traditions, which should be maintained and further developed.

The Head of the Friendship group of the National Council of Austria Mario Kunasek thanked for the warm hospitality extended to the delegation in Bulgaria and noted that this was the first visit of Austrian parliamentarians to the country in the recent years. We held a lot of talks, established contacts which will hopefully develop and grow deeper, said he and invited his colleagues from the Bulgaria-Austria Friendship Group to visit his country. This is the direction in which the traditionally good relations between the two countries should develop, in his opinion.

Earlier today the Austrian MPs talked with the Members of Parliament from the Bulgaria-Austria Friendship group and with Members of Parliament from the Foreign Policy and Defense Committee.

On 19 June the Austrian MPs met with Pavel Shopov, Deputy President of the National Assembly. Later they talked with Valentin Radev, Deputy Minister of Defense, Hristo Georgiev, Director of European States Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with Borislav Stefanov, Executive Director of Invest Bulgaria Agency.

The programme for the visit also contained a meeting with Dimitar Georgiev, Deputy Minister of Interior, as well as visit to the Military Academy G.S.Rakovski and to the National Museum of Military History.