site.btaVice President Iotova Discusses Problems Facing EU with Hessian Minister of European and Federal Affairs Puttrich

May 28 (BTA) - Vice President Iliana Iotova and Hessen's
Minister of European and Federal Affairs Lucia Puttrich
discussed the challenges facing the EU and the results of the
European Parliament election, the President's Press Secretariat
reported Tuesday.

"We discussed the greatest fears that the elections would be won
 by those opposing Europe," Iotova said. On her part, Puttrich
expressed the hope that the winners of the elections will put
their efforts in Europe's development.

Iotova expressed concern with double standards in the EU, which
is one of the main reasons for European citizens to lose faith
in the Union.

The Bulgarian Vice President noted the need of revising the
Treaty of Lisbon, because it contains too many regulations in
areas where these are not needed, and lacks coordination in
important policies, such as migration and security. A
constructive dialogue on revisions to the Treaty of Lisbon is
needed, she added.

Earlier in the day, Bulgarian Vice President Iotova and
representatives of Bulgarian associations and Sunday schools in
Germany discussed the opportunities for intensifying the
Bulgarian  language study and recognizing it as a matriculation
language, the President's Press Secretariat said. Iotova
conferred with members of the Bulgarian community in  Frankfurt
am Main, where she is scheduled to attend observances of the Day
  of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of Slav Letters, 
traditionally marked on May 24. 

The Bulgarian community representatives raised a number of 
issues before the Vice President, the main ones being related to
  preserving the Bulgarian identity and language, and the 
spreading of Bulgarian culture. Iotova noted that recognizing 
Bulgarian as a matriculation language is a matter of national 
legislations and bilateral agreements.

She described the Bulgarian Saturday and Sunday schools as the 
biggest success in the policy aimed at Bulgarians abroad. Some 
of the problems she identified are the shortage of qualified 
teachers and school premises. The Bulgarian language 
certification is another issue, as many children from abroad 
wish to study in Bulgarian universities but lack a Bulgarian 
language fluency certificate. The possibility of recognizing 
Bulgarian as a second foreign language by the German education 
system was also discussed.

RY/MY, DS

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