Mariya Gabriel: The Balkan Constitutional Forum will promote dialogue, cooperation and exchange of experience between constitutional courts
27 October 2023 News
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Gabriel participates in the first annual meeting of the Balkan Constitutional Forum. The meeting is hosted by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria, with Pavlina Panova as its President.
The Vice President of the European Commission Vera Jourova, responsible for values and transparency, and the Minister of Justice Atanas Slavov also addressed the greetings. The event brought together representatives of the constitutional jurisdictions of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Romania, North Macedonia, Turkey and Montenegro.
According to Maria Gabriel, the high level of representation at the meeting proves that the Constitutional Court is an authoritative and respected institution also in the international context.
"Democracy, the rule of law, the separation of powers, the protection of civil rights are the foundations on which we are building a united Europe. The Constitution is the guardian of these shared values and principles", the Deputy Prime Minister said.
She stressed that the Constitution does not establish a simple system of norms, but sets a philosophy and a consensus of values. "The foundations laid in the Constitution have set the path of the civilisational choice our country has made by joining the European Union and NATO".
Participants in the Balkan Constitutional Forum signed a Memorandum on its establishment. With the signing of the Memorandum, the constitutional jurisdictions of Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Turkey and Montenegro officially joined the Forum. More information about the Memorandum, here: https://constcourt.bg/docs/Memorandum.pdf
"The Balkan Constitutional Forum is an example of good cooperation between the constitutional courts in the Balkans. It has the potential to become a common platform for the exchange of best practices, ideas and experience between the participating jurisdictions in the field of constitutional justice", the Deputy Prime Minister said.
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