site.btaTsetska Tsacheva Addresses 3rd Conference of Danube Parliamentarians

Tsetska Tsacheva Addresses 3rd Conference of Danube Parliamentarians

Belgrade, June 22 (BTA) - Bulgarian National Assembly Chair
Tsetska Tsacheva addressed the 3rd Conference of Danube
Parliamentarians in Belgrade on Monday, the Bulgarian
legislature said. Tsacheva spoke on one of the three main
topics: water management and flood prevention in the Danube
River basin.

She noted that floods know no borders, which is why the Danubian
countries need more cohesion and mutual assistance to deal with
floods. The countries have a long history of cooperation within
the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube
River and within EU agencies, she said.

Implementing the EU Floods Directive, the Bulgarian authorities
have identified the main flood-prone areas in the country. These
areas include the entire Bulgarian section of the Danube River,
which is shared with Romania, and its status as an area
susceptible to flooding has also been recognized by Romania,
Tsacheva said.

Furthermore, the region has adopted the Danube Transnational
Programme (2014-2020), whose geographical scope is the same as
that of the EU Strategy for the Danube River, she said. The
Transnational Programme is using a considerable budget and
allows local, regional and national authorities to implement
projects of high value-added, contributing to the integrated
development of the Danube Region.

All necessary conditions are in place to boost prosperity in the
Danube Region (partly by improving the condition of water
resources) and to mitigate the effects of climate change in this
part of the world, Tsacheva said.

She announced that Bulgaria is planning to establish a single
national authority to supervise the maintenance of its dams.

The 3rd Conference of Danube Parliamentarians is also discussing
road, railway and air transport in the region, and investment
in research as a driver of regional development.