Danube Co-operation Process

Novi Sad, 17 April – The Third Ministerial Danube Co-operation Process Conference will be held in Belgrade tomorrow, 18 April. It will be opened by the President of Serbia, Boris Tadić, and the participants will be the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria, Ursula Plasnik, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sven Alkalaj, and the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, Erhard Busek. It is expected that three documents will be adopted and that an agreement on activities in the Danube river basin in the following period will be reached. Subject-wise, economy, ecology, navigation, culture, subregional cooperation and tourism will be discussed. Igor Bajić, Advisor for Structural and Development Programmes at the Office for European Affairs, will present the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. ”All the initiatives for the Danube co-operation are of the special importance for the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the whole country and all citizens. Priority areas are waterway regulation and navigation improvement of the Danube, infrastructure development through the construction of piers and marines, waterway signalling, measures against floods, environmental protection and further development of tourist offer. The Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina will be an active and reliable partner in all the programmes the cooperation offers”, said Bajić. ”The Danube Co-operation Process involves a political and economic forum connecting the countries in the Danube river basin and ministerial conferences. The Danube Co-operation Process Conference is held every second year at the level of ministers of foreign affairs of the Danube countries”, said Predrag Novikov, Director of the Office for European Affairs.