The meeting took place during Tsveta Karayancheva’s visit to Russia.
Excerpts from the transcript:
Meeting with Speaker of Bulgaria's National Assembly Tsveta Karayancheva
Meeting with Speaker of Bulgaria's National Assembly Tsveta Karayancheva
Meeting with Speaker of Bulgaria's National Assembly Tsveta Karayancheva
Dmitry Medvedev: Madam Speaker, colleagues,
Time flies so fast. Only recently, I made a visit to Bulgaria and met with you at the parliament. And now we are meeting in Moscow.
First of all, I would like to ask you to pass on my greetings and best wishes to my colleague, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, and to the President, Mr Rumen Radev.
You have a full programme for your visit. I know that you have already met with your colleagues and discussed inter-parliamentary cooperation. We can continue this conversation now.
There are many memorable events that link Russia and Bulgaria – the next date we are going to mark is the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries in July.
We also have inter-regional cooperation. On Russia’s part, 80 regions (almost every region of our country) have contacts with Bulgarian regions.
Contacts between people are even more important. This probably has greatest value. I am not only talking about tourism. People-to-people contacts in general play a very important role in our relations. I am sure that they will continue.
Once again, I warmly welcome you to Moscow.
Tsveta Karayancheva (via interpreter): Mr Prime Minister, thank you for your hospitality. Indeed, we had a lot of meetings, which, I hope, have been quite fruitful. I would like to note that the Bulgaria-Russia Friendship Group is the largest such group in the Bulgarian parliament.
Last year we marked the 140th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish rule. This year we will celebrate another event – the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. These are very important events from our common history. We mark them with a series of festive events. This means Russia and Bulgaria can celebrate holidays together, and work together very productively.
The dialogue between our countries includes a lot of open topics that require an increase in dynamics and development. This concerns the economy, culture, tourism and a number of other areas of activity. There are dynamic processes taking place around us internationally, and we must develop relations between our countries for the benefit of our peoples. We are called to serve our peoples, to work for their benefit.
To prove that dialogue always leads to good results, I can quote what Ms Matviyenko said during our meeting: from September 1, Bulgarian students studying in Russia will have the opportunity to simultaneously study and work at an hourly rate.
Once again, allow me to thank you for your hospitality and the opportunity to meet.
<…>
