A Memorandum of Understanding between the National Assembly and the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of Romania was signed on 6 April 2016 in Sofia by the presidents of the two institutions.

The Romanian parliamentary delegation, led by the President of the Chamber of Deputies Valeriu Zgonea, is on an official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Chairperson of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva.

In the document, the National Assembly and the Chamber of Deputies of Romania undertake to develop, strengthen and intensify parliamentary relations. The document states that for the purposes of strengthening cooperation in the areas of common interest consultations at the level of the specialized standing committees and parliamentary friendship groups will be organized. The two institutions are to consult and coordinate their positions, where relevant, through their representatives at OSCE PA, PACE, NATO PA, the Interparliamentary Union and other parliamentary organizations so as to effectively support and promote the proposals of common interest.

The Memorandum of Understanding states that the National Assembly and the Chamber of Deputies of Romania will cooperate and will coordinate their activities in the framework of the Parliamentary Assembly of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP PA) to create synergy between different regional cooperation formats, optimize their efficiency and achieve specific outcomes.

After signing the Memorandum, the Chairperson of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva noted in a briefing to journalists that the document reflects the achievements of parliamentary cooperation between Bulgaria and Romania and outlines new steps in the relations between the two institutions.

The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania Valeriu Zgonea pointed out that with the signing of the Memorandum the two parliaments are entering a new stage of stronger relations through which they would achieve their goals for providing safety and prosperity to the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania. The document enables future generations, future parliamentarians to work as well as we are doing now, said he.

The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania Valeriu Zgonea confirmed at the meeting the good neighbourly and friendly relations between Romania and Bulgaria, based on the principles of European and Euro-Atlantic cooperation, pointed out the Chairperson of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva. The presidents of the two institutions expressed our content with the dynamic development of parliamentary cooperation in the past years not only at the level of friendship groups but at the level of the parliamentary standing committees, added she.

A focus was placed on regional cooperation and particularly on the cooperation within the Parliamentary Assembly of SEECP, said Tsetska Tsacheva. She specified that a priority for Bulgaria and Romania as EU Members States is to work for the European perspective of the other countries in the region. We received the support of our Romanian Parliament colleagues for the seat of the SEECP Parliamentary Assembly’s Standing Secretariat to be in Sofia as it has a number of advantages over Istanbul’s candidacy, the Chairperson of the National Assembly pointed out.

Bilateral trade and economic contacts, transport and energy connectivity, building the intersystem gas connection Ruse – Giurgiu, Danube Bridge 2, and the need of further efforts to build the rail and road connections were also among the topics  discussed by the presidents of the National Assembly and the Chamber of Deputies of Romania.

The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania Valeriu Zgonea said before journalists that the priorities and goals of Bulgaria and Romania are similar and the two countries work together for a stronger regional cooperation. The relations between our two countries are entering a new stage of reinforcing the existing warm friendship, pointed out he. According to Valeriu Zgonea Romania and Bulgaria could become an energy and economic hub for the region.