Development of the parliamentary dialogue and deepening of the cooperation between Bulgaria and Israel in different fields of mutual interest have been the key topics discussed at the meeting between National Assembly President Tsetska Tsacheva and the delegation of the Israeli Knesset, led by the Chairman of the friendship group Israel - Bulgaria, Eitan Broshi.MP Yanko Yankov, chairman of the friendship group Bulgaria-Israel in the National Assembly of Bulgaria took part in the meeting.

The chair of Bulgaria’s parliament expressed satisfaction with the dynamics in the bilateral relations in the last years and underscored - the current visit of the Israeli parliamentarians was to give an additional boost to their further development. Tsetska Tsacheva recalled that recently the Prime Minister of Bulgaria had visited Israel and said that the regular contacts between the governments of the two countries were very important and were leading to concrete results in the bilateral relations. The Speaker of Bulgaria’s parliament expressed hope that a joint session of the governments of the two countries would be held at the end of 2016.

The chairman of the friendship group Israel-Bulgaria, Eitan Broshi, expressed gratitude for the warm reception offered by the parliament of Bulgaria and his hopes that by the end of his visit effective results for further development of the cooperation between the two countries in different areas would be reached. Among the fields of mutual interest he outlined security, agriculture, healthcare and others. “Those are the areas in which we would like to expand our bilateral interaction and cooperation,” Eitan Broshi added.

The Chair of the National Assembly of Bulgaria stressed that Bulgaria and Israel have had a very good cooperation in the security field and that it was important to continue it in the future. Tsetska Tsacheva noted that the experience of Israel in this field was extremely important and useful to Bulgaria, which is facing currently a big challenge with regards to the migration wave coming towards Europe.

Mrs.Tsetska Tsacheva extended an invitation to the Israeli Knesset Chairman, Mr. Yuli Edelstein, to visit Bulgaria and expressed hope that the visit would take place until the end of 2016.

The Israeli parliamentarians will have talks with representatives of the Israeli business in Bulgaria.

On March 8th , 2016 the delegation is scheduled to meet with the chairman of the Internal Security and Public Order committee at the National Assembly and chairman of PP GERB parliamentary group, Tsvetan Tsvetanov; with the chairman of the Agriculture and Food committee, Roumen Hristov; with the head of the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom”, Maxim Benvenisti; with the head of the Central Israelite Religious council, Sofia Kohen and is to visit the Central Synagogue in the capital Sofia.

The parliamentary delegation of Israel will have meetings with members of the friendship group Bulgaria-Israel on March 9th, 2016 at 9.30 am at the main building of the National Assembly. Afterwards the guests are to confer with the chairperson of the Healthcare committee, Mrs. Daniela Daritkova, and with the Education and Science committee chairperson Mrs. Milena Damianova. They are to meet also with the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Desislava Taneva.

On March 10th, 2016 the Israeli delegation is to visit Plovdiv. The delegation is to lay wreaths and flowers at the site of the Monument of Gratitude (commemorates the averted deportation of the Plovdiv Jews in March 1943), to visit the Bachkovo Monastery and to attend the ceremony on awarding the mayor of Plovdiv, Mr. Ivan Totev, with the honorary badge of the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom”.