The Danube-South European Region: the New Bridge on the Danube
Plamen Alexandrov
Manager
ОИЦ Svishtov
No. 11/2000
If one stands on the Bulgarian bank of the Danube, the opposite bank looks so close. In the summer, the sound of the Romanian discos can be heard on the other side and the fishermen go fishing side by side. However, if you want to go to the opposite Zimnich, you ll have to travel 200 kilometers and go through Rousse. And there was a time when commerce flourished on both banks and people were able to communicate freely
Svishtov is known to have been the first in at least a hundred things. Once again, the tradition was kept. Today, Svishtov is the first to develop a new, modern European initiative, the establishment of the Danube-South European Region. This is not a unique idea. Many countries have already established European regions. However, this will be the first Bulgarian-Romanian European region, a pilot project that would pave the way to the formation of other European regions along Bulgaria s borders.
A workshop on the cross-border cooperation between Romania and Bulgaria was held in Svishtov on November 3, 2000. The workshop was sponsored by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe of the Council of Europe. Municipality of Svishtov s initiative was supported by the municipalities of Belene and Nikopol in Bulgaria and by the cities of Zimnich and Alexandria in Romania. The regional governor of the Romanian region of Teleorman and the Veliko Turnovo regional government signed a memorandum on the formation of Danube-South European Region. The Danube Association of Danubian Municipalities and Teleorman s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture signed the memorandum in the capacity of observers.
The workshop was funded bye USAID and the Polish Know-How Fund and was supported by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly s delegation to Bulgaria. Besides the Romanian ambassador to Bulgaria and the Polish ambassadors to Bulgaria and Romania, the event was attended by CLRAE s vice-president, Mr. Claude Casagrande. Lecturers from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland an Croatia shared the current European experience in the formation of cross-border cooperation zones. This is one more step towards the strengthening of local government, a step that allows the regions on both sides of the border to discuss together their common problems and to develop joint projects that could be funded under the appropriate programs and funds. The European cross-border regions have their own association in Gronau, Germany.
Now the Bulgarian and the Romanian municipalities within the European region have to establish an association and to form a board to which they will nominate their representatives. The goal is to faster analyze the cooperation opportunities in all areas of mutual interest. These areas are specified in the memorandum and include: economy; commerce; environment; tourism; culture and infrastructure. The regional development plans also have to be coordinated for consistency.
The Bulgarian party has already informed the Bulgarian government about the formation of the European region. Information is also provided to all European institutions supporting cross-border cooperation. We have also expressed our willingness to work with European regions in EU member countries.
Once again, we have to keep in line with tradition and have the next Svishtov initiative make the two banks of the Danube closer.