The National Assembly President Mihail Mikov has opened on October 14th, 2013 the Seminar titled “Legal status and political functions of the inter-parliamentary organizations”. The forum is organized by the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Cooperation in South –East Europe /RSPCSEE/ and is hosted by the National Assembly.

In his address to the participants in the seminar Mihail Mikov noticed the development of the cooperation in South-East Europe is of prior importance to Bulgaria as a way of maintaining security and stability in the region and for improving the economy and infrastructure. The policy of Bulgaria is directed towards encouraging the security and stability and the enhancement of the economic and cultural relations in the region as well as towards the development and reinforcement of the parliamentary cooperation.

He stressed that in the age of globalization the different forms of inter-parliamentary cooperation acquire new, particularly important role for the successful development of the region.

The seminar was attended by parliamentary members and national coordinators of the 12 member states of the   Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Cooperation in South–East Europe, representatives of partner regional and international organizations, experts in International Relations and International Law.

Kzistof  Bernacki, head of  the Department “Pre- accession activities” of the Office for Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy  within the External Policy Directorate General of the European Parliament addressed also the participants.

The chair of the Bulgarian National Assembly’s standing delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Yanaki Stoilov, addressed the participants in the first panel of the seminar titled: “Role of the inter-parliamentary organizations in the international and regional cooperation”.

The Process for Cooperation in South-East Europe is a forum for diplomatic and political dialogue in which take part Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.

The initiative was started at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the countries in South-East Europe, held in Sofia on 6-7 July 1996. The participants took the decision to launch a lasting process of multilateral cooperation between the participating countries of the region in the following main fields: reinforcement of stability, security and good neighborly relations; economic development; humanitarian, social and cultural relations; Justice, fight against organized crime, illegal drugs and arms trafficking and against terrorism.