The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) Legal and Political Affairs Committee held its 32^nd meeting on 8 October at the National Assembly House. The meeting was opened by the Committee Chairman, Michael Yemelianov, and the participants were greeted by the Speaker of the National Assembly Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic and the Head of the National Assembly’s Permanent Delegation at the PABSEC, Aleksandar Vlahovic.

Opening the meeting, the Chairman of the Legal and Political Affairs Committee, Michael Yemelianov stressed that efficient economic development is not possible without solving the existing political problems in the region. He said that the PABSEC’s cooperation with the European Parliament, EU and European institutions is a frequent topic at the meetings of PABSEC’s working bodies, but that the time has come to institutionalise the cooperation between these two organisations and the European Parliament.

Greeting the participants, the Speaker of the National Assembly Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic expressed her belief that this meeting will be an occasion to exchange not only experiences, but to also contribute to the deepening of parliamentary cooperation of PABSEC member states. Since joining the organisation in 2004, Serbia has strived to develop and strengthen friendly and good-neighbourly relations with the Parliamentary Assembly member states. The Speaker of the National Assembly pointed out that the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly, as an important regional forum, is certainly in the position to give correct answers to many challenges concerning the region, thus drawing into focus of parliamentary and public interest the right topics of interest for the region and its association with the European Union.

On the behalf of the National Assembly’ Permanent Delegation at the PABSEC, the participants of the meeting were greeted by its Head, Aleksandar Vlahovic, who also said that Serbia gives great importance to the cooperation with Black Sea Economic Cooperation countries and that it is determined to deepen the relations and cooperation in the field of policy, economy and culture.

Following a discussion, the Committee members adopted the Report on the 15^th anniversary of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, with a special focus on the political aspects of deepening economic cooperation. They also discussed the issues of further cooperation with the European Parliament, and as part of the topic they considered the issues of founding a Permanent PABSEC Delegation for cooperation with the EP, issues of the parliamentary dimension of BSEC-EU interaction, as well as the Greek Delegation’s proposal to found a European – Black Sea parliamentary assembly.