site.btaBulgarian Parliament Chair Holds Talks in German Bundestag

Bulgarian Parliament Chair Holds Talks in German Bundestag

Berlin, May 7 (BTA) - On the second day of her two-day official
visit to Germany, Bulgarian National Assembly Chair Tsetska
Tsacheva met with the Bundestag's CDU Parliamentary Group Leader
Volker Kauder, CSU Group Leader Gerda Hasselfeldt and Deputy
SPD Group Leader Axel Schaefer, the Bulgarian National Assembly
reported on Thursday.

The Bulgarian parliamentary delegation led by Tsacheva was
greeted at the opening of the plenary sitting of the State
Parliament of Berlin. They also conferred with Germany-Bulgaria
Friendship Group Chair Gernot Erler and other members of the
group.

The day's bilateral talks in Berlin focused on the judicial
reform which Bulgaria needs to implement in order to meet the
European Commission recommendations, Tsacheva said. The
Bundestag members were updated on an intention to amend the
Bulgarian Constitution. The planned amendments concern parts of
the Constitution which can be changed by a Regular National
Assembly. This requires support from the opposition as well as
from the ruling coalition, she said.

Earlier in the day, National Assembly Chair Tsacheva, deputy
chairs Ivan Ivanov and Krassimir Karakachanov and
Bulgaria-Germany Friendship Group member Atanas Merdjanov met
with representatives of the Bulgarian community in Berlin.

The large number of questions by the Bulgarians, many of whom
students, were related predominantly to their country's policy
on Bulgarians abroad and the demographic crisis in Bulgaria,
Parliament said in a press release.

Tsacheva noted that the Bulgarian institutions prioritize and
pay special attention to the work of Bulgarians abroad. This is
why a special standing committee was established - the
parliamentary Committee on the Policies towards Bulgarians Who
Live Abroad, which has been operational for less than two
months, and its members will actively focus their efforts in
support of Bulgarians abroad, she said.

According to the National Assembly Chair, the demographic issue
is Bulgaria's most complicated problem. In her words, it is no
secret that the Bulgarian society is an ageing one. "This is a
very difficult problem to which we are trying to find the best
solution, which undoubtedly is a higher standard for the
citizens of our country. These are all policies to be decided
within the borders of our country," Tsacheva underscored.

According to her, the big problem is that young people - the
most competent and well-prepared - go to study abroad and remain
there. In her words, many of them will return to Bulgaria if
the State is in better order and if there is a clearer prospect
for the future. "We are really doing everything possible to make
this happen," she said.