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| Discussing the future cooperation with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag
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The opportunities for further cooperation between CSD and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag were discussed at a meeting in the Commissioner’s Office in Berlin. The meeting was held on July 28, 2005, and was a follow-up to the CSD initiative to examine the opportunities for introducing an ombudsman for the armed forces ombudsman in Bulgaria. The meeting was attended by the Commissioner’s assistant Ms. Anke Seidel and the CSD representatives Dr. Maria Yordanova, Director of the Law Program, and Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Project Coordinator of the Economic Program.
The relations between CSD and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag have been initiated during the mandate of Dr. Wilfred Penner when in September 2004 representatives of CSD senior staff visited him in his office in Berlin.
In the course of the established cooperation the Parliamentary Commissioner’s office provided CSD experts with detailed information on the legislative framework and practical work of the institution, which was translated in Bulgarian and distributed among interested professional groups and politicians. A visit of Dr. Penner in Bulgaria took place on March 1-2, 2005. It was organized jointly by CSD and Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Regional Office in Sofia. The lectures on Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag: Institution for Protecting the Law, Receiving Complaints and Parliamentary Control. Achievements and Perspectives that Dr. Penner delivered before representatives of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, MPs, representatives of diplomatic missions, NGOs, etc. as well as at Rakovski Defense and Staff College, raised the awareness of and the interest in the military ombudsman institution. The meetings Dr. Penner had with Mr. Venko Aleksandrov, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy, Defense and Security, and with the Deputy Minister of Defense Ms. Sonya Iankulova contributed to convincing the senior governmental officials in the advantages of this institution. During his visit Dr. Penner also expressed his commitment to support the possible introduction of a similar institution in Bulgaria.
The continuing efforts of CSD in the field of introducing the ombudsman institution in Bulgaria on different levels and in different areas of public life made it necessary to reestablish the contacts with the Parliamentary Commissioner institution after the new Commissioner Mr. Reinhold Robbe was elected on April 15 and took the office on May 12, 2005.
During the discussions on July 28 CSD representatives briefed Ms. Seidel on the recent developments with the long lasting work of the Center for introducing the ombudsman institution on national and local level in Bulgaria. These efforts include also the examination of the opportunities for establishing an ombudsman for the armed forces to protect soldiers’ rights and counteract abuse and corruption in the armed forces. A set of publications in the Bulgarian media on the visit of Dr. Penner has been presented on the attention of the new Commissioner together with a copy of the CSD Policy Brief No.6 on the newly elected parliamentary ombudsman in Bulgaria.
In the course of the meeting Ms. Seidel provided the representatives of CSD with information related to the new priorities of the Commissioner. She presented the other universal and specialized mechanisms for human rights protection that exist in Germany and expressed her admiration to the efforts of CSD for introducing ombudsman institutions in Bulgaria.
Bio of Mr. Reinhold Robbe
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