Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević said today that the Danube is not only a river that passes through Serbia, but also a river that connects and joins Serbia with countries with which it shares the same types of challenges and encourages joint action and cooperation.
Miščević stated this for Tanjug on the eve of the “Friends of the Danube” panel, which was organised on the occasion of the World Water Day by the Embassy of Slovenia in Belgrade and the non-governmental organisation “Supernatural” in order to draw attention to the importance of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) and discuss ways to empower and involve young people in the EUSDR and water and biodiversity conservation.
“The Danube connects Serbia not only with the EU member states but also with candidate countries. Now its role is precisely that – to bring together all of us who live in Europe, on the European continent, who have the same kind of problems and face the same kind of challenges”, Miščević said.
She added that the implementation of the EUSDR is currently being worked on, by discussing ways to form the best possible projects, which will help everyone living in the Danube region, in order to improve two big areas – knowledge technology and transport.
“The Danube Strategy forces us to cooperate so that we can prepare the best possible projects for our joint development, the development of our countries”, said Miščević.
Ambassador of Slovenia to Serbia Damjan Bergant told Tanjug that the goal of today’s panel is to connect all the countries through which the Danube flows.
“Connectivity is important at all levels, especially those related to ecology, industry, trade, tourism, etc. And that is why it is important that all countries cooperate with each other since the Danube is not a matter for one country alone, but for everyone”, Bergant pointed out.
He added that it is crucial that countries that are not EU members, but belong to the Danube basin become part of the EU as soon as possible, because then the connection in that area will become more intense.
Ambassador of Hungary to Serbia József Magyar told Tanjug that it is extremely important that all the countries that are connected via the Danube take care of ecology and their surroundings in order to preserve the river and make it greener.
He also emphasised the importance of involving young people in the EUSDR, so that they too could show how they think and how they would contribute to the connection via the Danube, but also to the preservation of the river.
Ambassador of Austria in Belgrade Christian Ebner assessed for Tanjug that the Danube region is very important in terms of economy and tourism and added that his country “wholeheartedly” supports the EUSDR.
"In recent years, the geopolitical situation has been changing, so it is important that we work together in this region. We share similar interests, symbolised by the Danube River, and through the strategy, we can implement various projects that would bring economic prosperity and connect people”, said Ebner.
Source: Tanjug
