Tibetan Parliament Speaker Meets Lawmakers and Human Rights Officials in Vienna

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VIENNA: The Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile on last Saturday (26 November) successfully concluded a 4-day visit to Austria where he met Austrian Parliamentarians, governmental officials and members of various human rights organisations.

(From left) MEP Dr Eva Lichtenberger, Tibetan Parliament Speaker Mr Penpa Tsering, Dr Madeleine Petrovic, deputy of the Landtag, in Vienna, Austria. Both Dr Lichtenberger and Dr Petrovic are members of the Green Party.

During his meeting with the parliamentarians, Speaker Penpa Tsering suggested the need for an parliamentarian inter group for Tibet in the Austrian Parliament. He met Dr Eva Lichtenberger, Member of European Parliament, who visited Dharamsala this August on the inauguration of Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay, Dr Madeleine Petrovic, deputy of the Australian National Parliament and Dr Judith Schwentner, Member of the Austrian National Council. Both Dr Lichtenberger and Dr Petrovic are members of the Green Party.The Speaker met government officials, leaders of around seven human rights organisations and Tibet support groups, which include Dr Doujak Head of the Human Rights Department in the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Zimburg of the federal ministry for European, international and foreign affairs.He also gave interviews to some of the media in Austria, which include Die Presse Daily News Paper and Austrian News TV.Speaker Penpa Tsering left Vienna for Brussels on 26 November. He was scheduled to join Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay and Kalon for Information and International Relations Dicki Chhoyang on Brussels on 27 November to address the Tibetan community based in Belgium. From 28 November – 1 December, the speaker will have series of meetings with INPaT working group, MEPs particularly from eastern European nations and attend the European Parliament’s Tibet Inter Group conference.He will then visit Vienna on 2 December for a two-day programme, which includes a visit to an inauguration of an exhibition, and a meeting with Tibetan community members.

pt1 — Speaker Penpa Tsering (C) during his meeting with Dr Doujak, head of the human rights department in the Austrian Foreign Ministry, (R) in Vienna, Austria.

Speaker Penpa Tsering will then attend a two-day programme in Italy’s Bolzano and Trento regions from 5 – 6 December.The final leg of the visit will take him to Rome for a five-day programme from 8 – 12 December, during which the speaker will attend a conference of the Radical Party and meet with members of the Tibet Inter Group of the Italian Parliament. He will be Milan on 10 December.The Speaker will return to Dharamsala on 15 December.