05 May 2015 – The Philippine Embassy in Prague reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) of the Czech Parliament recently established the Czech Republic-Philippines (CZ-PH) Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group on April 10 and elected Dr. Simeon Karamazov, Member of Parliament from Pardubice, as chairman. 

Dr. Karamazov is a Czech university teacher, scholar and politician. He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Czech Technical University in Prague and worked as Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the Pardubice University. His political activity began in 1996, and in 1998 he ran for the City Assembly in Pardubice. In 2000, he became a member of the City Council of Pardubice and was elected chairman of the Civil Democratic Party (ODS) City Assembly Pardubice. Since 2013, he has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

Philippine Ambassador to the Czech Republic Victoriano Lecaros stated that he will soon meet with Dr. Karamazov and the members of the Friendship Group to brief them on Philippines-Czech Republic bilateral relations, Philippine foreign policy interests in security, trade and investments, and promoting the welfare of Filipino nationals in CZ.

Mr. Stanislav Grospič, Head of the Permanent Delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Chamber of Deputies, formally informed the Embassy of the establishment of the CZ-PH Interparliamentary Friendship Group which includes Mr. Agustin Karel Andele Sylor (Dawn Party), Dr. Jana Fischerová (ODS), Mr. Radim Holeček (ODS), Dr. Milan Šarapatka (Independent), Mr. Ladislav Velebny, (Czech Social Democratic Party), and Mr. Jan Volny (ANO Party) as members.

The powerful Chamber of Deputies is the seat of the Czech government led by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. The bicameral Czech Parliament consists of the Chamber of with 200 members and the Senate with 81 senators.  END