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Mr. Neno Dimov, MP and member of the national leadership of DSB, presented the basic principles of the party and particularly DSB views on the integration of minorities. He put the stress on the fact that as a right-wing party DSB believes in greater investment in economy, rather than in patchy short-term, and therefore inefficient, "special measures" in the social policies of the country, proposed by leftist parties.
Interesting and useful was the meeting of the young participants with the prominent Bulgarian journalists Bojko Vasilev and Georgi Koritarov. Both of them gave presentations and practical advices on how to participate successfully in media dispute or give interview. The trainees had the opportunity to practice their skills in the simulations of media events. Afterwards the trainers analyzed their performance.
Within the training Module 3 of NDI's Roma Political Skills Building Program which took place on November 9 - 10 at Sveta Sofia Hotel, the trainees met with Ms Els de Groen, a Dutch MEP, from the joint group of the Greens and the European Free Alliance, member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee EU - Bulgaria. The main topic of discussion was the access of Roma to the labor market in Bulgaria, and particularly, Roma access to public administration positions. As result of this meeting, Ms De Groen suggested the Roma participants formulate questions, which then Ms De Groen herself will refer to the EP.
In Module 3 the Roma participants continued their meetings with leaders of mainstream parties. They visited the headquarters of BSP and MRF. Main topics of discussion with Ms Aneta Gruicheva, member of the Executive Bureau of the Supreme Council, head of the Department of Youth Policies and New Generation Initiative, Ms Iva Stankova and Ms Nadya Antonova, MPs, and Mr. Miroslav Popov, member of the Executive Bureau, responsible for the relations with ethnic groups and minorities, co-author of the Roma program - part of BSP's election platform were the governance program of the BSP-led coalition government and more particularly the Roma issues in it; the Strategies for overcoming the housing and healthcare problems of disadvantaged people, both of them parts of a complex long-term governance program up to 2015.
The MRF leadership, represented by Ms Filiz Hyusmenova, MP, observer to the EP, and former head of NCCEDI, Ms Stefka Koleva, NCCEDI adviser and member of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, Mr. Vesselin Penev, head of Liberal Integration Foundation, and Prof. Lyudmil Georgiev, member of the party Central Council discussed with the Roma politicians the MRF latest election strategy in the Roma communities and the Decade of Roma Inclusion. The training sessions of the seminar were on the topics Planning and Conducting Election Campaigns and Voter Outreach. In result of the individual assignment after Module 2, the participants worked out 7 interpellations to be submitted at Parliament. NDI submitted the letters of interpellation to the BSP, NMSS, MRF, UDF and DSB parliamentary groups.
NDI-Bulgaria held the second training of the Roma program on October 21-22. It began with the young Roma participants meeting with the leadership of mainstream political parties. The first of these meetings was with NMSS leadership at their party headquarters; the meeting was attended by MP and newly-elected party secretary Vladimir Donchev, MPs Aneliya Atanasova and Margarita Kaneva, and Alida Rizova, international secretary of the party. Discussed were the further development of professional education as a means of combating high unemployment among Roma; Roma candidates on NMSS lists, assertive measures to include Roma in public administration, and party platforms versus governing coalition platforms relating to Roma issues. NMSS MPs invited the NDI trainees to develop suggestions for improving the situation of Roma, and then committed themselves to present these suggestions to the symposium of the European Liberal Parties "Roma in Transition - Opportunities and Challenges" in Bucharest on October 27 - 29.The second meeting was with Chairperson Kemal Eyup and Deputy Chairperson Lalo Kamenov of the National Commission for Protection from Discrimination. This conversation was very engaging and efficient - not only informative about a topic of great interest to Roma but also having practical implications. The commission chairpersons received a lot of suggestions and advice on how to make their work more efficient, and the trainees learned how to work on individual or collective cases of discrimination in their communities. The rest of the training was dedicated to public policies. Trainers were Maria Kumanova of the National Association of Municipalities, who presented the public policies at the local level and Stefan Stoyanov with Partners - Bulgaria, who focused on policy development based on the strategy for equal access of Roma to the labor market, which his organization developed in late 2004.
On October 7 - 9, NDI-Bulgaria's Roma Political Skills Building Program II held its first training module on the topic of Political Parties. The opening of the program was attended by Ms. Maya Cholakova, Director of Ethnic and Demographic Issues Directorate at the Council of Ministers; advisory board member Professor Tatyana Burudjieva; and participants of the first cycle of the Program, Spaska Mihaylova, Teodora Krumova, and Sasho Kovachev.In her opening speech, Program Director Sevdalina Voynova introduced the program with a short overview of the first cycle, emphasizing the achievements of its participants, the curriculum of the current cycle, and the opportunities for development within and after the program. Ms. Maya Cholakova addressed the participants with a formal congratulatory letter on behalf of the Ethnic and Demographic Issues Directorate, and explained the structure and functioning, as well as the expected programmatic activities, of the Directorate. Spaska, Tedi, and Sasho shared their experiences from the first cycle of the program. Tedi explained that the program provides a lot of knowledge, practical experience, contacts with mainstream political parties, and help with individual and group projects; however, it is up to each of the participants if and how to use these possibilities. The training started with Prof. Burudjieva's introductory presentation on political parties. It was followed by group work on the casus Politician or Statesman. The rest of the presentations on the subject were presented by the former MP Nikolay Mladenov, former Vice Chair and Spokesperson for UDF (Party Leadership, Internal Communication, Party Democracy and Discipline, and Resource Management); Ms. Ivelina Alexieva, member of the Central Election Commission and member of the political consulting group of Minister Emel Etem (Financial Resources Management of Political Parties) and Ms. Sevdalina Voynova, Director of NDI-Bulgaria (Effective Local Party Management). During this first module of trainings the participants had the opportunity to meet and talk with Mr. Iliya Iliev, the leader of Party DROM, which was a coalition partner of UDF in the recent parliamentary elections and with Mr. Alexander Filipov, former MP for NMSS.
Dr. Maya Cholakova's address (Download) (9kB)
On 8 November 2005, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) organized a seminar training for first-term Members of Parliament, which was attended by members of most parliamentary represented parties. The event opened with an address by Mr Michael Fritz, Mission Director of USAID/Bulgaria - one of the organizations actively working with the Bulgarian Parliament.
On January 21-23, 2005 the National Democratic Institute (NDI)
held the fourth training seminar within its Roma Political Skills Development Program.
On December 10 - 12, 2004, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) held the third training seminar within its current Roma Political Skills Building Program. The 22 trainees paid a visit to the National Assembly. They were invited by the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Religions, and personally by its chairman, Mr. Lachezar Toshev, member of шге UDF Parliamentary Group. The participants discussed live questions with Mrs. Tatiana Kalkanova, Vice Chair of the NMSS Parliamentary Group, as well as with Mr. Michail Mikov, Vice Chair of the BSP Parliamentary Group. 
On November 19-21, 2004 NDI organized the second training seminar within its current
Roma Political Skills Development Program. A total of 23
young Roma activists - representatives of political parties, NGOs and media - took part in the
training. In the beginning of the training, the participants were given the unique opportunity
to meet with the President Georgi Parvanov and to present to him some of the most pressing
problems of the Roma community. 
NDI's Roma Political Skills Development Program was launched on 22 October 2004 in Sofia. A welcoming speech was
given on behalf of Filiz Husmenova - Minister without Portfolio. Roumyan Russinov, Roma Political
Participation Program Director - OSI Budapest also congratulated the young Roma trainees and
wished them good luck. 
The second seminar took place on 13-14 November in Sofia. Trainers were Megan Deveaux - an experienced political organizer
from Canada, Vladimir Shopov - Sofia University lecturer and Sevdalina Voynova with NDI Bulgaria.
The general course topic was issue based outreach with voters and NGOs. The training included
sessions on political arguments, outreach methods, techniques and activities as well as
sessions on party context of strategy and planning. A total of 12 participants from all
parliamentary represented political parties and the newly established Democrats for
Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party took part in the training. 
From November 26 through 28, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) held the third training
session for NGOs participating in Institute's "Connecting NGOs and Political Parties" Program.
The training was designed to evaluate their progress and give them the opportunity to share
lessons learned as well as to assist the groups when they define their next campaign after
NDI's program ends. Trainers were Jim Della - Giacoma, NDI's senior program manager for
citizen participation, who also held individual consultations with the NGOs, Lyudmila
Gerogieva, a NED fellow and university tutor, and Sevdalina Voynova with NDI Bulgaria. 
The third seminar took place on 4-5 December in Sofia. Trainers were Adjiedj Bakas from VVD the
Netherlands and Chris Henshaw with NDI Macedonia. Adjiedj Bakas gave two presentations. The first
one was on the mega trends in Europe related to the changing political issues and the new
role of political parties in the 21st century. The second presentation was devoted to how
politicians and political parties should work with the media. Chris Henshaw talked about
effective local party management with a focus on the manager, the organization and good
practices. 18 representatives of political parties took part in the training.
NDI conducted the second training course for the non-governmental organizations participating in "Connecting NGOs and Political Parties".
The seminar took place from 3-5 September in Bankya near Sofia. A total of 10 NGO representatives took part in the
training.
From July 4th to July 7th the National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs (NDI) conducted the first training course (out of a series of three) for the CSOs
participating in its current Program "Connecting CSOs and Political Parties".
The topic of the course was Local Governance. The training sessions covered the major
aspects of local governance: municipal councils, local administration, local policy
development, the role of political parties, as well as practical information on relevant
legislation: Local Governance Act, Access to Information Act, Municipal Budgets Act,
Classified Information Act.
NDI in partnership with OSCE is implementing a Roma Political Participation Program in Bulgaria,
with a focus on coalition building. The purpose of the program is to transfer skills
and to provide relevant information in order to position Roma political parties and
their representatives better ahead of the parliamentary elections in 2005, and to enable
them to engage effectively with citizens priorities in local government.
NDI organized two consecutive consultations on May 14 and 16, 2004 in Serdika Hotel in Sofia. The consultations were
attended by over 30 Roma political leaders, mayors, local counselors and activists.
On 16-17th February, 2004 the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) organized a training seminar "Advocacy and
Local Governance" in the framework of its program for encouraging the dialogue between local government and CSOs in advance of 2003 Local
Elections in Bulgaria.