BRATISLAVA, June 7, (WEBNOVINY) — At the initiative of the European Commission, the transport ministers of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania and Moldova signed a declaration on Thursday in Luxembourg setting out a number of commitments to avoid a repeat of last autumn’s navigation standstills on the Danube River. The riparian states will develop the longest European river as an important waterway. As the Slovak Transport Ministry said, the countries want to cooperate in this effort also given the goal of increasing cargo transport on the Danube River by 20 percent by 2020. Slovak Transport Minister Jan Pociatek supported the development of the Danube as an important transport route. Representatives of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine will join their signatures later.
“In the past years a lot of money was invested, but without achieving a core improvement of shipping conditions on the Danube. Also therefore we see space for more effective use of funds,“ Pociatek elaborated.
The declaration reasserts existing obligations to maintain the fairway to a good standard and undertakes measures to tackle problems like low water levels or ice. The ministers agreed to meet again, and to coordinate actions through the structures of the Danube Strategy and the Trans-European Transport Network Coordinator for Inland Waterways.
SITA