European Commission adopted Danube Strategy

Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic stated that the European Commission had adopted the Danube Strategy the day before, adding that that document would be immensely useful for Serbian citizens and its economy.

Djelic said that the Strategy had been presented at a press conference in Brussels by EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn, adding that after the adoption by the European Commission, the Strategy would be forwarded to the EU Council and the European Parliament.

He explained that the Danube Strategy, on the drafting of which Serbia had worked for over a year, would attract considerable funds from the EU budget

In his opinion, it will be very beneficial not only to 24 municipalities along the river, but also to another 80 nearby ones, which are linked with the rivers Sava, Tisa, Timok and Velika Morava.

Djelic said that Serbia had earmarked €18.5 million for projects such as the reconstruction of the Golubac Fortress, infrastructure in Veliko Gradiste and other municipalities in the Danube basin.

He explained that Serbia and an EU member state had applied to jointly coordinate projects in the field of infrastructure, economy of knowledge, tourism, media and safety.

He recalled that the Danube strategy concerned the countries of the Danube basin and their immediate neighbors – Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria, as the EU member states, and non-EU member states Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine.

Djelic said that it was expected that the EU Council and the European Parliament would formally adopt the Strategy in mid-2011, during Hungary's six-month EU presidency.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Delegacija Evropske unije u Republici Srbiji Beograd

Bozidar Djelic

Danube Strategy

Brussels

Johannes Hahn

European Union Council

European Parliament

Sava

Tisa

Timok

Velika Morava

Danube