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.