site.btaInternal Security and Public Order Committees of Bulgarian, Romanian Parliaments Hold Joint Meeting in Sofia

110 PARLIAMENT-BULGARIA-ROMANIA-JOINT MEETING update 2

Internal Security and Public Order Committees of
Bulgarian, Romanian Parliaments Hold
Joint Meeting in Sofia


Sofia, October 18 (BTA) - The Internal Security and Public Order
Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament and the Committee for
Defence, Public Order and National Security of the Romanian
Parliament held a joint meeting in Sofia on Thursday, the
National Assembly said in a press release.

The Romanian delegation, led by the Chairperson of the Chamber
of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament, Dorel Caprar, is on a
working visit to Bulgaria in October 18-19 at the invitation of
Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Chairman of the Internal Security and Public
Order Committee.
Tsvetanov said, quoted in the press release, that three months
ago such a joint meeting was held in Bucharest and was very
productive. Tsvetanov wished success to Romania who takes over
the rotating EU Presidency on January 1, 2019. Tsvetanov said
that the issue of the Western Balkans which was central to the
Bulgarian EU Presidency in January-June 2018 will continue in
the Romanian Presidency as well.

Caprar said that the Bulgarian and the Romanian Parliaments can
serve as an example of joint work. In his words, other countries
can join the process of development of the economic, political
and diplomatic cooperation and thus build on it. The Romanian
politician said that Bulgaria and Romania are small countries
but when they stand together, their voice can resound very
loudly in Europe.

Tsvetanov said that at the moment there is injustice towards
Bulgaria and Romania for joining the border-free Schengen Area,
and that the two countries should support each other. Caprar
said that both countries wish to join the Schengen Area and have
fulfilled their obligations in this respect.

Tsvetanov noted that Romania has honoured the NATO commitment of
allocating two per cent of the Gross Domestic Product for
defence spending, and thus has outpaced Bulgaria in fulfilling
the obligations for modernization of the armed forces.