The Chairperson of the National Assembly, Tsetska Tsacheva and the President of Poland Andrzej Duda discussed at their meeting the cooperation in the fields of security and energy, transport and energy connectivity, parliamentary cooperation and trade end economic relations.

Bulgaria and Poland are partners in the EU and NATO but most of all they are connected by a common past, cultural values and excellent friendly relations between their two peoples, noted the Chair of the National Assembly.

Tsetska Tsacheva expressed confidence that the visit of the Polish President in Bulgaria will boost the bilateral relations and will help to deepen the cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture and tourism. She noticed that it was necessary to intensify the partnership between the two countries at the highest possible parliamentary level and as well as the direct contacts between the parliamentary committees of the two legislatures.

The Chairperson of Bulgaria’s parliament expressed gratitude for the support of Poland for the accession of Bulgaria to Schengen. We hope our country to become member of the Schengen space, as it carries out its obligations. She added she is confident that the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen will make the external borders of the European Union more secure.

We face common challenges and this is the reason why we have to work together and help each other, noted the President of Poland Andrzej Duda. In addition he said the most successful cooperation is in the area of security and energy, the transport and energy connectivity between the states of Central and South East Europe. Both sides expressed confidence that the upcoming summit in Warsaw will contribute to the security of the eastern part of NATO and add to the upward dynamics in the partnership relations in the organization. 

The migration wave, as the current main problem of Europe as a whole, was the key topic discussed at the meeting. For us the important issues are the security and the protection of the external borders of the European Union said Tsetska Tsacheva and added Bulgaria carries its obligations to protect its borders responsibly. She further said the EU needs to set up common policy because no country is in the position to cope with the problem alone.

The Chairperson of the National Assembly noted that the trade turnover between Bulgaria and Poland is on a good level, but the attraction of more investments from Poland should be explored further.  Bulgaria, according to Tsetska Tsacheva is very attractive for tourists – not only in the sea and winter resorts but also in the all year active spa centers.

The many years of restrictions in the past are the reason why polish citizens travel now with great pleasure, said Andrzej Duda. He added he expects further increase in the number of polish tourists to Bulgaria in 2016 and promised to personally work in this direction.

The parties assessed highly the established long ago and fruitful relations between our two countries in the culture and education fields. "We are satisfied with the accomplished quality of the education and the number of students in Bulgarian language in Poland and in the Polish language in Bulgaria", underscored the Chair of the Parliament of Bulgaria.

Tsetska Tsacheva informed the guest about the priorities of the National Assembly in the fields of social policy, education, fight against corruption and legislative reform. The two leaders discussed the demographic problems in the two countries, as well as the reforms in the education system.