The European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) plays a central role in the future of Hungary, the Hungarian Government's Commissioner for the co-ordination of EU Danube Strategy related tasks Balázs Medgyesy said on Tuesday in Budapest.

During the 6th Steering Group Meeting of the Strategy's Priority Area 11, which deals with security, Mr. Medgyesy said that the Danube Region, which is home to approximately 112 million people, could become a "powerful instrument” for the management of the European economic and competitive crisis.

However, we should be also aware of the increasing risks, the Government Commissioner said, such as the problems resulting from climate change and the economic crisis, and issues relating to the destabilization of the Mediterranean region, organised crime and illegal migration.

He also emphasised that security is of utmost importance within the EUSDR and this field is essential to ensuring the effectiveness and success of all the other priority areas, and is also crucial to the betterment of the quality of life of people in the region.

The EUSDR is intended to be a model for integration, since EU member states and non-member states participate on a voluntary basis, expressing their common will. The strategy has become a real platform for development and financial coordination in recent years, Mr. Medgyesy said.

On behalf of the Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria, Ms. Snezhina Marinova noted that this Steering Group Meeting was the first to be organised outside of the two coordinator countries (Germany and Bulgaria). She said that this was a clear and important sign of Hungary's commitment to the further development of the EUSDR. At the meeting, the participants discussed the events of the last six months, reported on the current state of affairs of running projects and prepared the groundwork for future activities and project proposals.

Christian Hofmann from the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Germany said that the Hungarian Danube River Forum (DARIF) project was a very promising initiative. The project runs from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015 and its main goal is to facilitate cross-border law enforcement cooperation among Danube region countries to enable efficient joint action to combat organised crime, prevent and handle emergencies and increase the security of the region as a whole. The DARIF is set up within the framework of EUSDR Priority Area 11: “To work together to tackle security and organised crime”. The total budget of the project is EUR 290,870 out of which EUR 261,783 is provided by the European Union “Prevention of and Fight against Crime" Programme.

(MTI)