SOFIA, 30 – 31 MARCH 2009

During the meeting of the I.A.O. International Secretariat and Committee Chairpersons parliamentary delegations from the following I.A.O. parliament-members: Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, Russian Federation and Serbia.

The meeting was held in the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria and the following decisions were reached:

1. Meeting of the I.A.O. Committee on International Policy and International Conference in the island of Evia, Greece, 24 – 29 May 2009. The main subject of the International Conference is: «The Orthodox Community tried by the global economic crisis».
2. 16th I.A.O. General Assembly, Belgrade, 24 – 28 June 2009. The main subject of the General Assembly is: «The global economic crisis and its impact on the social – spiritual – cultural European traditions. The role of Orthodoxy».
3. IPU – Parliamentary Conference on the global economic crisis, Geneva, 7 – 8 May 2009. The I.A.O. will be represented by: Mr. Adam Regouzas, I.A.O. Treasurer, Mr. Lefteris Christoforou, Member of the I.A.O. International Secretariat and Mr. Konstantin Zatulin, Chairman of the I.A.O. Committee on International Policy.
4. 33rd General Assembly of PABSEC, Bucharest, 12 – 13 June 2009. The I.A.O. will be represented by Mr. Theocharis Tsiokas, I.A.O. Alternate Secretary General and Mr. Miron Ignat, Member of the I.A.O. Committee on Human Rights.
5. Publication of the 15th General Assembly minutes (in a CD).
6. Publication of the annual Bulletin.

On Tuesday, 31 March 2009 the members of the I.A.O. International Secretariat participated in the conference with subject: «The Idea of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Orthodox Christianity» which was co-organised by the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Academy of Sciences of Bulgaria and the I.A.O. The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Georgi Pirinski opened the works of the conference, while greeting messages were presented by the President of the I.A.O. General Assembly Mr. Sergei Popov, and the I.A.O. Alternate Secretary General Mr. Theocharis Tsiokas.

Reports were presented by: Prof. Valery Alexeev, President of the International Institute for the Orthodox Peoples’ Unity, I.A.O. advisor with subject: «The Cyrillomethodian heritage and the European unity» and Dr. Ioannis Tarnanidis, Chairman of the Hellenic Association for Slavic Studies, Professor Emeritus of History and Literature of the Slavic Orthodox Churches, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with subject: «The European Idea in the Light of the Universal Messages of the Cyrillomethodian Mission».

In addition, the members of the I.A.O. International Secretariat had a meeting with Mr. Georgi Pirinski, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as His Beatitude Maxim, Patriarch of Bulgaria.

The I.A.O. International Secretariat issued a Statement regarding the decision of the European Court for Human Rights against Bulgaria on violation of religious freedoms.