Public and government joined forces for the development of the Danube Region

The vision of the government and public on the development of the Danube region was reflected in the official position of Ukraine that contains specific projects and initiatives, which have been transferred to the European Commission. Proposals aim at improving life of local population of the Danube region in such areas as environment, transport, energy, culture, security and institutional development. In particular, there are plans to implement construction of the international cargo-and-passenger ferry crossing Orlovka-Isakcha and bridge at this crossing, construct a highway Odesa-Reni with length of 261 km and a bridge crossing through Dniester Estuary; create a system of handling waste in towns of the region; as well as implement measures to prevent floods, projects of rural, green, wine and cruise tourism development. It is also planned to provide population with access to drinking water, introduce organic agriculture and solve the urgent problem of Sasyk Lake, expand protected objects for preservation and restoration of species of flora and fauna of the region.

Implementation of mentioned projects will be important and will bring benefit not only to the population of Ukraine, but to our neighbors as well; it will also promote cooperation and good neighborliness between the Danubian countries.

Olha Melen, coordinator of the Working Group on the Development of the Danube Region, stressed the importance of meeting and lobbying interests of the Danube Region population with the help of the working group not only on the national level, but on the European too, particularly in the process of developing such strategic document as the EU Danube Strategy.

Sustainable development of the Ukrainian part of the Danube region will be provided only through strengthening of internal cooperation of sub-regions of Ukraine – Carpathian and Danube, for example, in the field of environmental security, integrated water resources management, Oleh Rubel, one of the leading experts of the project and PhD holder in economic sciences, said.

According to Iryna Solonenko, Director of the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation, elaboration of proposals on the development of the Danube Region by Ukraine has become an example of how several NGOs and experts who united their efforts can influence the government, and thus – contribute into presenting quality intellectual products from Ukraine to the EU.

Oleh Rybachuk, head of the Public Expert Council within Ukrainian part of the Committee on Cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, noted that public expert assistance to the government, as demonstrated by the example of the Working Group on the Danube Region creates an opportunity for Ukraine to adequately represent their position on the international arena.

For detailed information please contact coordinator of the Working Group on the Development of the Danube Region Olha Melen – tel: 032 2557682, email: melen.olya@gmail.com

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Proposals of Ukrainian public concerning the development of the Danube Region were worked out with the support of the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation under the project “Promoting Ukrainian public to participate in implementation of the European Strategy for the Danube Region”, which is implemented by the International Charitable Organization “Ecology–Law–Human”.

More details can be found at: www.epl.org.ua

Source: “Ecology–Law–Human”