53rd Plenary Meeting of the PABSEC General Assembly, Baku, 20-21 June 2019
The 53rd Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly is taking place in Baku upon the invitation of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
National delegations from the parliaments of Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine take part in the Plenary Session.
The Plenary Session started with the Opening ceremony at which Mr. Oktay ASADOV, PABSEC President and the Chairman of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Ms. Tsveta KARAYANCHEVA, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, addressed the participants. The messages of Mr. Elmar MAMEDYAROV Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Mrs. Ekaterina ZAKHARIEVA, BSEC Chairperson-in-Office, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, were presented. A presentation was also made on the Black Sea cooperation and the major projects in the BSEC Region.
At the end of the Opening Ceremony, the former and current members of the Assembly were awarded with the PABSEC Medals of Honour for their contribution to the development of parliamentarism in the BSEC region and consistent support to the activities of the Assembly.
On the first day of the Plenary Session the Secretary General of the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS) and the Secretary General of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) submitted the activity reports.
The members of the Assembly elected the PABSEC Vice-Presidents - Mr. Eldar Guliyev (Azerbaijan), Mrs. Violetta Ivanov (Moldova), Ms. Lyudmila Bokova (Russia), and Mr. Igor Becic (Serbia). The Assembly also elected the current PABSEC Secretary General Mr. Asaf Hajiyev for the next five-year term starting with 30 December 2019.
Within the framework of the Assembly, the PABSEC Presidency and symbol of the PABSEC Presidency was transferred from the Azerbaijani Parliament to the Bulgarian Parliament. The six-months PABSEC Presidency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria starts upon the termination of the Baku General Assembly.
On the same day, the speeches were made by the representatives of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, the Baltic Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic-speaking Countries, the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the National Assembly of the French Republic, the European Union, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
The Assembly approved the Report on the activities of the Assembly and the Minutes of the Fifty-Second Plenary Session, ratified the credentials of the new members of the Assembly. The Assembly decided to grant the “PABSEC Partner” status to the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara.
The Assembly held a General Debate on “Strengthening the Role of Parliaments in Enhancing Sustainable Energy in the BSEC Region” with the participation of Heads of National Delegations.
Within the framework of the Committee on Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs, the Assembly adopted the Report and Recommendation 167/2019 “Green Economy. Blue growth”.
On Friday, 21 June 2019, the Plenary Session will continue its work.