Regional highways, high-speed trains and flights to be included in Danube Strategy

The Danube Strategy should be applied starting with the first half of next year, jointly with the other states in the region and the European Commission, but it requires solid projects, such as a network of highways, high-speed trains and flights, said Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc on Monday. "Sometimes it is easier to get from Bucharest to Paris, London or Brussels, than to have a direct connection with Sofia, Zagreb or Belgrade. This must change," said Boc speaking at the Danube Summit in Bucharest. He has also asked for the creation of an international institution to handle projects related to the Danube Delta and the Black Sea, and for better use of bodies managing illegal migration, such as the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) Regional Center for Combating Trans-border Crime. Some of the most important projects Romania hopes to carry out via the Strategy are the Danube-Bucharest canal, building two new bridges to Bulgaria, rebuilding port infrastructure and creating an international institute for the study of the Danube Delta's ecosystems. The Danube Summit brings together 22 delegations comprising the heads of government of the 14 states on the Danube basin, European Commission officials, representatives of six riparian German and Austrian states, the city of Ulm, Germany, and Poland as observer. The meeting is held in the Palace of Parliament, Bucharest. Mediafax (in picture: Danube river passing through Budapest)