Bulgarian Lawmakers Set on Official Trip to Japan

While in Japan and heading the official Bulgarian delegation, the Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, will meet a number of top officials such as Crown Prince Naruhito, and PM Yoshihiko Noda. Photo by BGNES

A Bulgarian Parliamentary delegation is leaving Sunday on an official visit to Japan, the Parliament press center informs.

The delegation, led by the Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, will be in Japan between April 8 and 12 on the invitation of Kenji Hirata, the President of the Japanese House of Councilors.

A bas-relief of Bulgaria's national hero, Vasil Levski, will be revealed at the Bulgarian Embassy in Tokyo on Sunday. The initiative is dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the birth of Levski, the Apostle of Freedom. There will be also a meeting with Bulgarian college students in Japan and Japanese experts in Bulgarian language and literature.

On Monday, Tsacheva will be accepted by the heir of the Japanese throne Crown Prince Naruhito. Also on Monday, the delegation will hold official talks with Hirata. Bulgaria lawmakers will be accepted by the Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda.

Meetings with Takahiro Yokomichi, house speaker of the House of Representatives, with the group for Friendship with Bulgaria and with the Japanese-Bulgarian Friendship Association are scheduled for Tuesday. Tsacheva will bestow the Association's Chair, Prof. Tatsuro Matsumae the order "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" for contributions to the bi-lateral partnership it the sectors of culture, education, and science.

On April 11, the delegation will visit one of the cities, damaged the most by tsunami from the devastating March 2011 earthquake - Higashimatsushima. The MPs will meet with local students and will plant Bulgaria roses in front of the city's Community Room.

The delegation is also going to travel to the memorial complex in Hiroshima and meet with Mayor Kazumi Matsui.

In addition to Tsacheva, the delegation includes the Deputy Chair of the Group for Friendship with Japan, Ekaterina Mihailova, from the right-wing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, DSB, its Chair, Stanislav Ivanov, from the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, the Chair of the Parliamentary group of GERB, Krasimir Velchev, Boyko Velikov, MP for the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, Lyutvi Mestan from the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, and Desislav Chukolov, from the far-right, nationalist party Ataka.

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