Oprescu: We need Danube as major economic and social development axis

Photo credit (c): Nicolae BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Bucharest General Mayor Sorin Oprescu underscored that Danube should be a major economic and social development axis of the European continent.

'The Danube is the real spine of Europe and, at the same time, the only truly international river. That is why I believe the Lower Danube development does not only represent a regional priority. After discussions concerning the EU strategy having lasted almost 3 years, today it is obvious that we need a unifying Danube and not a border between the north and the south, between the east and the west. We need a Danube as a major axis of economic and social development on the European continent. I hope that after the discussions these days we understand that it is time to overcome the declarative stage and decide together the entrance in the stage of concrete actions,' Oprescu said, in the context of his participating at the Vienna City Hall in the debates within the Council of Danube Cities and Regions.

He voiced his conviction that for achieving a real development of the Danube basin, the cornerstone is drawing up a complex programme based on a unitary concept for the entire territory, with the involvement of the public institutions of Romania and Bulgaria, of the European Commission and of the other European administrative and financial institutions.

In his opinion, a first step could be the creation of the project for Bucharest South economic area along Bucharest-Danube canal, with an extension towards Giurgiu/Ruse.

Oprescu believes both Bucharest and Sofia must turn into two development engines to be able to reach the objectives of the European Union strategy concerning connectivity and living standard increase.

In his turn, EU's coordinator for the Danube Strategy...

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