MGERB took part in the creation of a White Book for overcoming youth unemployment in Europe

15/05/2012

The Chairwoman of MGERB Monika Panayotova and the International Secretary of MGERB Hristo Gadzhev took part in a conference of the representatives of the organizations members of YEPP (the youth organization of the EPP, which includes 57 organizations from 38 countries in Europe), on the topic: “Overcoming youth unemployment” and was held from the 10th to the 13th of May 2012 in Lisbon, Portugal. During the conference the representatives of MGERB had helpful discussions with the Prime Minister of Portugal Pedro Coelho, with the ministers of finance and the economy, representatives of the World Bank, of organizations helping youth entrepreneurship and others.

In the whole of Europe the youth unemployment is a serious problem, as in some countries it reaches up to 50% and the member countries should follow to undertake a series of measures for making easier employability in the ages between 18 and 29 years. Unemployment is a burden, which is hard to overcome and the unemployment in the youths is a waste of human capital in a long term plan, because after years there will be a lack of prepared and experienced employees. Youth unemployment is not part of the cycle of the economy and is not so much influenced by the crisis, as much as the structure of the economy of the EU. This is why the focus of efforts of the countries needs to be giving opportunities for making easier youth entrepreneurship, the start in the career, the guaranteeing of the investments of “the business angels”, which help young entrepreneurs and most of all the deepening of the European integration. The best way for overcoming the problems of employability is in the creation of new job places and not in the perfection of the social systems, as the socialists are proposing.

The organizations members of YEPP accepted unanimously a White Book for overcoming youth unemployment, which will be proposed and based in the political documents of the European People’s Party, in the work of the European Parliament and the European Commission. From its side MGERB will continue its work in supporting the Bulgarian government in its actions for overcoming this problem.

Tsvetan Tsvetanov and MGERB Sofia cleaned the "Boris Garden"

12/05/2012

Not everything can be cleaned for one day, only if everyone cleans around themselves during all days can we permanently clean Bulgaria. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Chairperson of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who along with MGERB took part in the initiative of BTV “Let’s Clean Bulgaria for a Day”. Tsvetanov and the youths from MGERB Sofia took part in the cleaning of the Boris Garden in Sofia. He encouraged all citizens from all over the country to turn the campaign into their lifestyle and in this way to make Bulgaria such, as we all want her to be – clean, cheerful, beautiful and comfortable for living. “Only when we all together put forth efforts and guard the regions in which we live, the comfort and the calmness will make everything around us beautiful”, turned towards the youths of GERB the Deputy Chairperson of the party. Together with Tsvetanov in the cleaning took part his daughter Veselina, which expressed hope that all of us together can clean Bulgaria for one day. Equipped with bags and gloves the youths from GERB and Tsvetanov cleaned the region between the open theatre and the Arianna Lake. The cleaning youths were also joined by the Administrative Secretary of PP GERB Tsvetomir Paunov, the Regional Coordinator of Sofia Region – Andrey Ivanov and the Chairperson of the Group of Councilors from GERB in SMC Malina Edreva.

In the frame of the cleaning Tsvetanov and the youths of GERB Sofia opened the renovated alcove near the summer theatre in the Boris Garden. Whole components of the alcove have been replaced with personal funds of the youths and it has been completely repainted. On the site were placed labels of famous Europeans. The renovated alcove turned into an attraction for the playing around kids and their parents.

Representatives from MGERB observed the presidential campaign in France.

17/04/2012

From 11 to 15 April 2012 the Chairwoman of MGERB Monika Panayotova and the international secretary of the organization Christo Gadzhev participated in an international delegation that aimed to observe and examine the development of the presidential campaign in France and in particular the campaign of the President Nicolas Sarkozy and his party UMP. The international delegation included representatives from parties that were EPP members from Central and Eastern Europe. The event was organized by Robert Schuman Foundation. 

 

During their visit the MGERB representatives participated in a meeting between Sarkozy and UMP representatives from the Paris region, where the president announced some of his priorities for the second term. The issue "Europe and the EU" was discussed during the presidential campaign with Pierre Lekiye – Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs in the parliament, Arno Odie, deputy international secretary of UMP and Jean - Dominique Giuliani, Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation.

 

According to all participants, unfortunately, one of the pillars of the European idea – the theme of Europe and its future was in the background. On the other hand, if Sarkozy won the election there would be launched a new reform in the EU to solve the problems facing the community. As for the socialist candidate theme was based mainly of populism and promises as the idea to get out of the fiscal pact that would devastating effects for the French economy and its position in Europe.

Another major topic at the meetings was the way of conduct of campaign by the UMP in France. The representatives of MGERB discussed with Anne Cibon – director for elections UMP, Herve Novelli - deputy - Secretary General of the UMP, responsible for International Affairs, Xavier Takiyan - Special Adviser to the Minister of European Affairs, Pierre Chasa - communications director of UMP. There was made an analysis of the forms and rules for leading campaign in Bulgaria and France and the main conclusion was that the GERB’s campaigns in Bulgaria met all modern standards.

Representative of MGERB participated in the Fifth European Youth Conference

22/02/2012

Between 18 - 21 March in Soro, Denmark the Fifth European Youth Conference take place. It was organized by the Danish Presidency of the EU and was connected with the main priority in its youth policy - creativity and innovation, motivation for active participation of young people. During the event, there were discussed the results of the structured dialogue that had taken place in the Member States on priorities for youth policy for two years, the new Erasmus program for all parties and considerations of the countries about the structure of the next programming period in the field of youth work.

As the young policy constitutes a priority for the European Institutions and Member States, these problems are reflected on the events of such kind, which are organized under each Presidency and are held twice a year. In the working groups were drawn proposals to the European Commission in order to strengthen and deepen the dialogue between young people and the institutions as well as the actual implementation of European policies at national, regional and local level. The conference was attended by over 200 participants, divided into seven working groups on priorities - 1. Youth participation – elections. Increasing democratic participation. 2. Youth participation - voting age. Reducing the voting age? 3. Motivation for Participation - Motivation for participation in organizations. 4. The new program in the field of education and youth - New Programme of the EU for Youth. 5. Mechanisms for support and participation. Effective funding for effective participation. 6. Media and participation. 7. Innovation and participation - from participation to innovation.

The next conference of this type will be held in September 2012 in Nicosia, Cyprus and its priority will be the social inclusion focusing on young people from migratory groups.

The event was opened by Androulla Vassiliou – EU Commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, Christine Antorini – Danish minister for education and youth, Peter Matiasic – Chairman of the European Youth Forum.

Three youth representatives from Bulgaria participated in the event, including Joanna Dochevska from MGERB Sofia.

Representatives of MGERB took par in the international conference “Europe in the process of transformation – the end of taboos”

27/02/2012

The International Secretary of MGERB Hristo Gadzhev and Venera Dracheva – Member of MGERB Sofia took part in the conference “Europe in the process of transformation – the end of taboos” organised by YEPP (the Youth Organisation of the European People’s Party). The conference was held in the period between the 23rd and 26th of February 2012 in Budapest, Hungary. Host of the event was FIDELITAS – the youth organisation of the governing FIDES Party with the kind cooperation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Representatives of organisations members of YEPP from all over Europe participated in heated debates regarding a series of popular topics such as stimulating youth entrepreneurship, development of renewable energy, defending freedom on Internet space and others. The young politicians accepted a series of resolutions of the Council of Europe and stood united against the repressions in Syria.

During the seminar the participants had the opportunity to participate in interactive discussions with representatives of the executive power in Hungary such as Tibor Navracsics – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Administration and Justice of Hungary; János Martonyi – Minister of Foreign Affairs; Zoltán Cséfalvay – State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Development and others. The honorable lecturers familiarised the delegates with the constitutional changes in Hungary and with the recent developments of the national and European development of the country.

The main highlights of the debates were the current political situation in Hungary and are the democratic values in the country in danger. After the explanation of the hosts of the reasons and specifics for the changes a declaration was prepared regarding “The institutional changes in Hungary and their compliance with the fundamental rights of European law” and was approved by MGERB.

The representatives of MGERB honored the victims of the communist and fascist regimes, because the 25th of February in Hungary is the Day for honoring all of the victims of the authoritarian regimes, which governed the country during the 20th century.

MGERB is a full member of YEPP since May 2010 when it was unanimously accepted in the family of the center right European youths and has participated actively in the decision making processes on European level.

MGERB took part in the Winter University of EDS entitled "Democratisation Process in the Balkans - Promoting European Values and Human Rights"

27/02/2012

In the period between the 21st and 26th of February 2012 was held the Winter University of the European Democrat Students (EDS) – the student organisation of the European People’s Party in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia. The event was attended by over 70 delegates from 20 youth political organisations. Representatives of MGERB to the winter university were Kalin Zahariev – Deputy International Secretary of MGERB and Vice-president of EDS and Andrey Novakov – member of MGERB Blagoevgrad.

During the first day of the winter university were held short trainings for the co-chairs of the three permanent work groups to EDS. The target was to explain the new system for the preparation of resolutions and other documents of the organisation under which is achieved more active participation of the delegates and better end results.

During the second day the delegates visited the Zagreb Municipality where under the presence of media met with political figures and government representatives connected with the process of acceptance of Croatia into the EU. After the end of the event the participants visited the headquarters of the host party. Then there were held discussions, which targeted the exchange of view points and the expirience of the participants from the Balkans for the democratization of the region. Later during the day was held the meeting of the bureau of EDS. The daily order consisted of organisational matters connected with the forthcoming events of the organisation. The daily schedule contained a few other points, among which the choosing of an assistant for the projects of EDS. After a selection was held EDS approved Borislav Iliev, Regional Coordinator of MGERB Pleven. Borislav will support Kalin Zahariev in the research project in the sphere of higher education in the EU.

During the next day the participants met with representatives from the Committee on Human Rights to the Parliament of Croatia, after which they had the opportunity to attend a parliamentary session of the parliament. During the session was reviewed the budget project for the Republic of Croatia for 2012. The second half of the day went in meetings of the three permanent committees to EDS – Higher Education and Research, European Policies and Human Rights. Typical for the new system of preparation of documents is that the participants receive a topic and information on it – and the text is created at the moment with the participation of all of the participants. In the final document are included all propositions, which have received a majority of the working group.

During the fourth day the participants were part of a lection including the political history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. The panels were financed by the Hans Seidel Foundation. After the lecture were held simulation games regarding the solving of cases about the three countries in the context of the historical and political realities. Simulations of high level meetings were also held in which the participants were given current problems to solve.

During the last day of the Winter University was held the meeting of the Council of EDS. One of the most important highlights was the European wide campaign “Knowledge is Power” organised by EDS. Another important moment was the acceptance of new associations to the family of EDS – right youth organisations from Italy, Lithuania and Georgia. The council of EDS approved the candidacy of Borislav Iliev. The daily schedule also included the report of the Chairperson, the vice-chairpersons, a report for the budget of EDS, organisational decisions and other questions.

Representatives of MGERB took part in a training seminar of the IRI

20/12/11

The consecutive training seminar of the International Republican Institute (IRI) was held from the 15th to the 19th of December in Bucharest, Romania. The training was attended by representatives of right-wing political parties from ten countries. The main focus of the training was towards leadership and the main highlight was on campaign management.

Bulgaria was represented by Mihaela Ivanova and Ivan Andonov – members of MGERB Sofia.

The lecturers of the training were professionals from the sphere of campaign management, who through presentations, interesting lectures and practical examples passed their experience to all of the participants. Therefore every participant in the training enriched themselves with valuable information regarding how a political campaign is made and what are its main attributes.

The three day seminar was organized in three extensive modules. During the first day the participants had the opportunity to learn detailed information on how to use public opinion during their political campaign. The next day was filled with simulation games, which directly showed how a political campaign is organized – preparation of a work plan, political speaking and organization of an internet campaign. The lecturer during the last panel explained in details, through precisely prepared presentations, how a successful political campaign is organized step by step.

MGERB was part of the congress of the EPP

09/12/2011

The Youth Organisation of GERB was represented at the congress of the European People’s Party, which was held in the period between the 7th and 8th of December in Marseilles. MGERB was represented by Kalin Zahariev, Deputy International Secretary of MGERB and vice-president of EDS. The event was held parallel with the second meeting of the Council of EDS. The topic of the seminar was “Multiculturalism in Europe – Challenges and Possibilities”.

The XX Congress of the EPP went by a vast media interest. The European leaders had gathered in one place under the symbol of the efforts for overcoming the financial economic crisis. Over 1000 delegates from 39 countries attended including the 17 head of states belonging to the EPP. Speakers during the congress were José Manuel Durão Barroso -President of the European Commission, Jerzy Buzek – President of the European Parliament, Wilfried Martens – President of the European People’s Party, Angela Merkel – Chancellor of Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy – President of France, Antonio López-Istúriz - Secretary-General of the European People's Party, Jean-Claude Trichet – Former President of the European Central Bank, as well as many other prime ministers. The mutual message regarded with the united efforts to save the Euro zone. An important accent was that despite the hard times for Europe, the European dream must prevail.

After the congress of the EPP the seminar part of the event was due. In the first panels guest lectors were representatives of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, as well as the Robert Schuman Foundation.

A mutual panel with the Youth of the European People’s Party (YEPP) was organised for the first time of the current mandate of the bureau of the EDS. After that the traditional work sessions of the commissions to EDS were held.

During the last day was held a session of the Council of the European Union.

Visit of representatives of MGERB to the European Commission

01/12/2012

In the period between the 28th to the 30th of November 2011 a delegation of youths consisting of representatives of all parliamentary represented parties departed for Brussels. The three day visit of the youths among which were the representatives of MGERB – Daniela Panayotova (Varna) and Svetoslav Kazakov (Sofia) included visiting the European Commission, familiarization with the work of the individual main departments, as well as a meeting in the cabinet of the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis response – Kristalina Georgieva. The main topics which the young politicians discussed on a high level were the accession of Bulgaria to Schengen and the influence of the world economic and financial crisis on the European economies.

MGERB took part in the congress of Jeunes cdH

21/11/2011

During the 19th and 20th of November 2011 in the Belgian city of Namur was held the congress of one of the two youth member organisations of YEPP – Jeunes cdH. The congress was for the preparation of the organization before the upcoming local elections. Special guests to the event were representatives of the youth organization of the French ruling party – UMP, as well as MGERB in the face of Anna Pashanska and Mitya Atanasov.

During the congress the representatives of MGERB had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the political situation in the country, as well as with some of the candidates for municipal councilors and mayors for the region of Wallonia, selected from the youth organisation cdH. After the official part of the event the youths from GERB had the opportunity to exchange good practices with their colleagues from UMP, as well as with the host from the cdH in the sphere of organisation and initiatives, which are held in Belgium and France. Other than discussing initiatives the representatives from the three organisations discussed the opportunities for future mutual initiatives.

Representatives of MGERB participated in international training in Ohrid

03/10/11

Representatives of the youth organization of GERB – Maria Popova (Blagoevgrad), Alexandar Kirilov and Botyo Botev(Sofia) participated in an international training ‘Shaping the future of the European Union’, which was held from September 29 to October 2 in Ohrid (Macedonia), organized by ‘Konrad Adenauer’ Foundation in cooperation with the Centre for European Studies and the ‘Civic’ Institute. The forum was attended by young representatives of right-wing parties from nine countries on the Balkans.

The training was opened on September 29 (Thursday) with a presentation of the lecturer from the Centre for European Studies – Roland Freudenstein within which the main steps in the process of EU enlargement were outlined. Participants were informed about the process of negotiations and the accession of candidate states to the Union. During the next day the youth had the opportunity to examine what they had learned in a simulation game, as they were required to arrange in chronological order facts from the history of the European enlargement.

On Friday training simulation ‘Shaping the future of the European Union’ was launched, in which participants had to enter into the role of representatives of four candidate countries – FYR Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania as well as the main European institutions involved in the enlargement process –the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council. During the simulation game there were held negotiations between the states and the European institutions, as well as between different European institutions. The whole process was accompanied by official statements and informal conversations which were observed by representatives from the biggest European media. After the training simulation the participants commented on the results, as they all shared the opinion that it had helped them to become aware of the problems on the Balkans and in the European institutions from different perspective, as well as to make new friends.

Representative of MGERB participated in training of the International Republican Institute

20/09/11

Vladimir Stanev – coordinator of Youth GERB Kostinbrod and member of the executive council of MGERB – Sofia region participated in international training, organized by the International Republican Institute(IRI) on topic: ‘Local and regional policies’, held in Novi Sad, Serbia. The seminar was attended by 20 young people from 11 european countries. Lecturers who take part in the training were experienced in running and winning campaigns for local elections and conducting a proper local policy.

Main topics were: “All policies are local”; “Organizing a successful campaign for local elections: strategies and planning”; “Transparency and involvement of local citizens in decision-making process in the management of a municipality”; “WEB 2.0 – Social media changing the way we make elections”; “How to win elections by e-campaign with small budget?”

During the lectures there were discussed local policies and practices in conducting campaigns for local and national elections. There were expressed different points in making elections in Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, France, USA.

One of the most interesting information was about the success reached in the city of Martin, Slovakia where after the introduction of transparent public procurement procedures through appropriate software, there could be observed online by every citizen how to conduct each auction and what price was achieved. For the period in which this method was used, there were saved huge amounts, which the municipality focused on new projects. This transparency guaranteed the winning of a second term in the local elections in 2010.

Two decades of democracy and sustainable development in Central and Eastern Europe"

19/09/2011

Between 15 to 18 September 2011 in Prague, Czech Republic, the first meeting of the Council of the European Democrat Students (EDS) - the student organization of the European People's Party - was held. The event was attended by 60 delegates from 26 political youth organizations as well as guests from EDS. Representatives of MGERB were Kalin Zahariev, deputy international secretary of MGERB and Vice President of EDS, and Borislav Iliev, coordinator of MGERB Pleven.

The first day of the event began with a panel discussion, which was held at a local technical university. Guest lecturer was the Minister of Environment of the Czech Republic, Mr. Tomash Chalupa. There were discussed main measures in environmental protection in the Czech Republic and also linking economic growth with environmental protection. The second panel was held with the participation of Mrs. Ruth Bijkova, former Deputy Minister of Environment. The focus of the discussion was Prague and measures for better environment. The third guest speaker was Dana Drabova, expert from the State Office for Nuclear Safety. The focus of the topic was put on the future of nuclear energy after the crisis in Japan and Germany's decision to reduce significantly the production of electricity from nuclear power plants. The fourth and last topic of the day was associated with the diversification of energy resources. The lecturer, Mr. Jan Bauer, Chairman of the Committee for European Affairs presented a strategy for diversification of the Czech Republic.

On the next day of the event, after two morning discussion, there were held the first sessions of the three permanent working groups of European students Democrats. They all discussed the draft resolution "Two decades of democracy and sustainable development in Central and Eastern Europe" which was written by MGERB. The afternoon sessions of the working groups took place in discussion and amendment of other materials provided to voting for second time by the Board of EDS. In the working group "Higher education and science," Kalin Zahariev presented a project for collecting and analyzing data in the field of higher education in the EU. The project aimed to provide topics for the work of EDS, based on facts and analyze on the current state of the sector. The idea for the project came from MGERB.

Later in the day, separate from the sessions, the meeting of the Bureau of EDS was held. In a format of President, Secretary and Deputy Presidents there were discussed organizational issues for future events, current activities, and other issues. It became clear that resolution of EDS for the financing of higher education during the financial crisis, written on material from MGERB, was adopted as an official position of the EPP. It was expected in the near future that amendments from MGERB to the draft of political platform of EPP would be adopted. They were related to the inclusion of a new chapter in the document connected with student and youth issues as a priority of the EPP.

During the last day started a working session on the adoption of resolution "Two decades of democracy and sustainable development in Central and Eastern Europe." The discussion was led by Kalin Zahariev and at the end of the session it was adopted unanimously.

After that the meeting of the Council of EDS began. The agenda included reports of the President, Vice Presidents, report to the budget of EDS, organizational and other issues.

The international secretary of MGERB took part in the meeting of the Council of YEPP

12/09/11

In the period between the 8th and 11th of September in Kiev, Ukraine was held the meeting of the Council of YEPP (the youth organisation of the EPP) on the topic “The democratic process in Ukraine 1991 – 2011: The results after 20 years”. MGERB was represented by its International Secretary Hristo Gadzhev.

During 2011 the political situation in Ukraine became tense after the arrests of several leaders of the opposition and the start of a series of trials in court, the most significant is against the former Prime Minister of Ukraine – Yulia Tymoshenko, who was left under guard a few days before the conference.

The main topics were freedom of speech, the level of democracy and rule of law, as well as the role of the economy of the European Union for the future positive development of Ukraine. In the conference took part several representatives of the opposition parties, representatives of non-government organisations, representatives of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and others.

The main message of the conference is that the European People’s Party will not stop to support the democratically thinking people in country. The EPP will observer for the upholding of human rights and the rule of law in the actions of the government towards the opposition and the citizens of Ukraine. The made findings will be the main moving force in determining the decisions of the EPP in the continuation of the negotiations between the EU and Ukraine for the further European integration of the country,

The conference of the youths of the EPP was the first step from a series of initiatives of the European Christian Democrats for achieving fair and just relations towards the opposition in Ukraine. In the frame of September there is scheduled to be a visit from the President of the European People’s Party Wilfried Martens, who will observe the trial against Yulia Tymoshenko.

Youths and ministers from GERB followed the announcement of the presidential candidate pair of the party

04/09/2011

During the Fourth Summer University of MGERB which was held in Varna from the 3rd to the 6th of September – youths, ministers, MP’s and MEP’s from GERB followed the live announcement of the presidential candidate pair of PP GERB.

The youths followed the announcement of the candidates for president and vice-president from the party, after which they stood up and strongly applauded the announcement of the names of the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works and the Minister of Justice. The official nomination of Rosen Plevneliev caused a wide wave of approval among the participants of the university.

Monika Panayotova – Chairwoman of MGERB and Member of Parliament in the 41st National Assembly commented the nomination of the candidate president from GERB Rosen Plevneliev, as a well thought choice of the leadership of PP GERB and shared that she believes that Minister Plevneliev is the person, which will give a new image to the presidential institution, as it will start working for the Bulgaria brand and it will no longer only have representative functions. “The new president will not only be a unifier of the nation, but will point attention towards preserving and developing its potential. Due to this I believe that he will be the president of young people”, commented Panayotova.

The Minister of Defence Anyu Angelov wished the future president, fulfilling the function of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria to acknowledge the White Book for Defence, as his guide book in the sphere of defence.

The Minister of Education, Youth and Science Sergei Ignatov commented that Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova are: “one good European pair”, Traicho Traikov, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism regretted that he loses two colleagues in the Council of Ministers, but stated his confidence that they will be the winning pair in the presidential elections.

Bulgaria received a Vice Chairman seat in the European Democratic Students, due to MGERB

11/07/2011

On the 11th of July, Kalin Zahariev, member of the National Executive Council of the Youth of GERB was elected for a Vice Chairman of the European Democrat Students (EDS) during the Annual meeting of the organisation. The event was part of the Summer University of EDS and was held in Vienna.

EDS (www.edsnet.org) is one of the largest student political organisations in the European Union and is viewed as the student organisation of the European People’s Party (EPP). One of the main targets of EDS is to influence the policies in the sphere of higher education on EU level. This is achieved through participation in work groups of the EPP, as well as proposals during political meetings.

During the past year Kalin Zahariev was Co-chair of the Permanent Working Group for Higher Education and Research of EDS. A direct result of his work is his participation in the preparation of the project of the new political platform of the EPP. A whole chapter regarding higher education and research was included in the document due to that.

MGERB took part in the Annual Summer University of YEPP

11/07/2011

In the period between the 7th of July till the 11th of July was held the Annual Summer University of YEPP (the youth organisation of YEPP) on the topic of “Common Foreign and Security Policy” in Limassol, Cyprus. MGERB was represented by its International Secretary Hristo Gadzhev.

In the discussions took part the Chairman of the House of Representatives – Mr. Giannakis Omirou, the Chairperson of the Democratic Rally Party - Mr. Nikos Anastasiades, the Spokesman of the Government, the MEP’s Ioannis Kasoulides – European People’s Party Vice-President and Michael Gahler – European People’s Party, as well as Andrey Klimov - Deputy Chairman of the Committee for friendship EU-Russia in the State Duma.

The main topics of the debates formed to be the role of the EU in the world, the relations with Turkey, as well as those with Russia. And a main highlight to the security policy was given to the relations between the EU and NATO in the context of building trust with Russia and the system for anti-missile defence of NATO.

The hosts familiarized the participants with the development of the Cyprus question in the relations with Turkey, after the invasion in 1974, as well as the history of the city of Famagusta – the only ghost town in Europe. With the advance of the Turkish army in 1974 its 45 000 citizens abandoned it and now it is located in “no man’s land” controlled by the Turkish army. Nobody lives in it and the city is “frozen”, as it was left by its inhabitants. There was great interest in the discussion for the relations between the EU and Russia, due to the participation of representatives of all points of view – from Brussels, through Belarus and Ukraine to Moscow.

Representatives of MGERB were observers during the parliamentary elections in Turkey

01/07/2011

At the invitation of the youth organization of the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Parti), between 3 - 30 June 2011, representatives of MGERB monitored the election process in Turkey. Youth initiative, passed under the title "Election Exchange" and organized in Istanbul, Turkey, was the first of its kind, as the organizers declared their expectation to make it a tradition. The first edition "Election Exchange 2011" was attended by around 100 young people from 45 countries, including two representatives of MGERB - Marin Zahariev, member of the district executive council of MGERB Smolyan and municipal organizational secretary of GERB Smolyan and Lyubomir Stefanov - Member of MGERB Targovishte and member of the municipal executive body of GERB Targovishte.

Main focus of the event was the election campaign of the ruling party. From 3 to 12 June MGERB representatives took an active role in various meetings, discussions, lectures, as well as numerous media appearances, part of the campaign. During the visit, they had meeting with the leaders of the Party of Justice and Development in Istanbul, as well as the opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister of Turkey, the mayor of Istanbul, and with mayors of other districts in the city and popular party members.

During the event participants were divided into groups that visited different areas of the city, with a view to monitor the election campaign, to see the candidates’ approach and people’s attitude toward the election process. Several days before the election, the young people participated in simulation games, based on what they had seen during the campaign, while at the same time they had to show their own communication skills, debating and conducting election meetings and discussions. Significant advantage during the simulation games for the Bulgarian representatives was their participation in the Political academy of MGERB and different regional trainings.

On the Election Day, the youth representatives visited several polling stations as observers, and after that they watched the announcement of interim and final results at the headquarters of the Party of Justice and Development in Istanbul.

MGERB took part in an international conference of IRI in the Republic of Croatia

19/06/11

The International Republican Institute (IRI) held the consecutive political conference in East Europe. Croatia was the host of the seminars in which participated 23 youths from 11 European countries. MGERB was represented to the international conference by the Regional Coordinator of Sliven – Vesela Kacharova. The topic of the conference was “Successful leadership of an election campaign”.

The trainings were held by lecturers from Austria, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The event was held in the frame of three days in the city of Zadar. The main topics were: “How to use the public opinion for a political campaign”, “The organisation of a successful election campaign: strategies, planning” and “Verbal and non-verbal communication in front of the media”.

As part of the training were held role-playing games. The youths were divided into groups representing different political parties and it was necessary for them to defend the interests of their parties and candidates in different media formats. The target of the trainings was to show leadership skills during an election campaign. The participants held press conferences and television debates, which were filmed and analyzed by the lecturers.

Jan Surotchak the Director of IRI for Europe took part in the seminars. He presented a deep analysis of the election campaign and the results from the elections in the USA during November 2010.

MGERB initiated a wide informational campaign under the motto “I support Bulgaria’s membership in Schengen”

12/06/11

Exactly at 10 o’clock in the morning on 12 June the youth representatives of GERB from the entire country put the beginning of a national informational campaign “I support Bulgaria’s membership in Schengen”. The initiative’s formal beginning was set on 27 May in the Bulgarian Parliament where the Chairperson of MGERB Monika Panayotova, together with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Domestic Affairs- Cvetan Cvetanov and the European Deputies of GERB/EPP in the European Parliament Andrey Kovachev and Vladimir Uruchev presented the “Guide for Travelling in Schengen”.

The informational campaign of the youth representatives took place in all the district cities and most of the municipalities of the country where 224 000 brochures were distributed only during the first day of the campaign. Many deputies from GERB and the European Deputies themselves took part in the campaign in different places around the country.




“I support Bulgaria’s membership in Schengen” aims for increasing the familiarity of citizens with their rights and obligations during their travelling and stay in the countries from the Schengen Society. The Guide prepared by MGERB consists of very useful information on necessary documents when crossing the borders and customs regulations as well as the maximum of speed allowed when driving in each Schengen country, the maximum amount of money and the means of payment one can have in theirselves etc. In the guide citizens can also find the addresses and telephones of all the Bulgarian Diplomatic offices in the Schengen countries which they can contact in case of emergency.

The youth representatives of GERB who were going around the country all day in order to meet as many people as possible consider Bulgaria’s entering the Schengen Society as a major priority not only for young people but also for business in our country. Monika Panayotova who is also a Deputy in the Bulgarian Parliament related directly to the subject “Schengen” put an accent on the fact that Bulgarian citizens need more positive campaigns like this one. Monika shared her hope that after this initiative every citizen who was reached by the youth representatives is now at least a little bit better informed on Schengen.

The informational campaign will continue to take place in the entire country during the next few weeks.

The “Guide for Travelling in Schengen” can be downloaded in electronical version.