site.bta"Security Cooperation Key to Danube Countries," Deputy Foreign Minister Says

Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov represented Bulgaria at a Meeting of the Danube Foreign Ministers, held in Vienna on June 20 within the framework of the Austrian Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Kondov's Ministry said on its website on Monday.

"Within the context of the complicated geopolitical situation in the region, security cooperation is key to the Danube countries," Kondov said, addressing the meeting. "This includes coping with serious and organized crime and strengthening the common efforts against terrorism threats. To this end, it is important to promote long-term strategic partnership among the law-enforcement authorities and to work for an improvement of border control systems," the Deputy Foreign Minister said further in his statement.

He pointed out that the strategic role of the EU enlargement process is enhanced against the background of current challenges. "Bulgaria attaches key importance to the 'own merits' principle, which is also the strongest guarantee that the enlargement policy will keep its transforming power in the interest of citizens."

The meeting focused on the difficult geopolitical environment and security threats in the region and on cooperation in the Danube region as an example of candidate countries' gradual integration into the EU.

The participants adopted a Joint Statement "condemning in the strongest terms Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine and Russia's repeated military strikes on Danube port infrastructure and storage facilities and infringements on the freedom of navigation on the Danube." The Statement, titled "Vienna Danube Declaration", reaffirmed the Danube countries' "commitment to tackling existing and new challenges in the Danube Region, including by promoting cooperation in foreign policy and security matters" and their support for "initiatives that counteract illegal migration, explore opportunities of migration and enhance cooperation to dismantle smuggling networks". "We must also make full use of EU enlargement policy as a geostrategic investment and in line with the merit-based nature of the accession process. History has shown that EU membership is a catalyst for overcoming regional conflicts, promoting reconciliation, strengthening regional cooperation and development and accelerating internal institutional and economic reforms. Especially in times of geopolitical transformation, it is crucial to ensure visible and tangible results," the Declaration reads.