The Ukrainian side initiated a roundtable discussion on ‘Ukraine in the context of the priorities of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region’, during which the issues of achieving synergy between various institutional instruments and initiatives of the EUSDR, effective use of financial opportunities of the Danube Transnational Programme, and areas of cross-border cooperation were discussed.
During the meeting, the newly appointed National Coordinator of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region in Ukraine, Taras Tokarskyi, stressed that Ukraine is now seeking to become an active participant in the implementation of the Danube Strategy, and therefore the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine is trying to ensure all the necessary institutional and organisational capacities for effective coordination of the Ukrainian side.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Romania Olexander Bankov stressed the importance of consolidating Ukrainians in their European integration aspirations. He proposed to make the most of the human potential of Ukrainians and to strengthen their participation at all levels of the Danube Strategy.
Director of the Local Association of Local Governments ‘EU Strategy for the Danube Region’ Yuriy Maslov thanked the organisers for the opportunity for civil society representatives to publicly share their experiences and maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue within the framework of the EUSDR strategic sessions.
In general, the discussion was attended by representatives of central and regional authorities of Ukraine, civil society, academic and expert community, politicians and diplomats. Among the international opinion leaders were Stefan Lutgenau, President of the Danube Civil Society Forum, Director of Foster Europe – Foundation for Strong European Regions (Vienna, Austria); Rudolf Schicker, Coordinator of the Danube Contact Point (Vienna, Austria); Stavros Kalognomos, Executive Secretary of the Balkan-Black Sea Commission of the Conference of the Maritime Regions of Europe (Athens, Greece); Matthias Holtzner, Mayor of Baden-Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg, Germany); Yorgos Meleas, Second National Expert of the European Commission’s Social and Economic Committee (Brussels, Belgium); Cesar Grotzavu, Executive Director of the Regional Office of the Joint Operational Programme Romania-Ukraine 2014-2020 (Suceava, Romania), Catalin Anton, Director of the Association Sustainable Development Group (Constanta, Romania), and many others.