VIENNA: DECLARATION ON DANUBE REGION COOPERATION PROCESS ADOPTED

VIENNA, May 27 (Hina) - Delegations of 13 Danube basin countries adopted a declaration on the establishment of a process of cooperation in the Danube River area in Vienna on Monday. The document regulates the main areas of cooperation, including economy, environment, navigation on the Danube, etc. #L# The declaration reaffirms the existing forms of cooperation and international organisations which are active in the Danube River area, including the Stability Pact for South-East Europe, all in the context of European integration processes and European Union enlargement. The declaration defines six main forms of cooperation - economic development, navigation, environmental protection, tourism, culture and sub-regional cooperation. It notes that the process should not lead to the overlapping with other existing regional cooperation forms and initiatives, but improve their quality. The document also notes that the process of cooperation is a continual process, based on biannual conferences at the level of foreign ministers from all countries-participants in the Vienna conference. The next ministerial conference will be held in Bucharest in 2004. The process of cooperation in the Danube River region includes 13 Danubian countries: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Moldavia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. It is particularly important that the process also includes EU member-countries, candidate-countries, potential candidates, and countries which still do not have institutionalised relations with the EU. Included in the process are also the European Commission and the Stability Pact for South-East Europe. (hina) rml sb