State Secretary Stojanovic at the meeting of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region

Pointing out the importance of the Strategy for Serbia and the Western Balkans, Stojanovic emphasized that by cooperating on an equal footing with EU member states and focusing on practical projects, we were bringing the concrete results of EU integration closer to the citizens of our country.

He emphasized that the Program and Priorities of the Austrian EUSDR Presidency were fully complementary to the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

"The first priority of the Presidency - contributing to stability and a clear European perspective for the entire Danube region - is fully complementary to our strategic goal of full membership of the European Union. We have an ambitious reform plan aimed at gradual and rapid integration into the single European market within the "EU Growth Plan" until 2027 and, accordingly, accelerated progress in terms of European integration. We are counting on EUSDR programs to supplement and support these ambitious reform plans", the State Secretary pointed out.

According to the State Secretary, the second priority of the Presidency - encouraging innovation, developing skills and business opportunities in the Danube region, was also strongly aligned and correlated with the priorities of the Republic of Serbia.

"We have an ambitious agenda - to reach the goal of 100 billion euros of GDP by the end of 2027. We want to achieve this with a strong focus on digitalization, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and education. It is the synergy and complementarity with the countries of the Danube region that will provide additional momentum to these ambitious goals", Stojanovic noted.

Reflecting on the third priority - improving the ecosystem of the Danube region, water management and green transition, he assessed that this was the area in which Serbia and its citizens saw the most tangible results from the EUSDR.

"On the basis of a joint initiative of Hungary and Serbia, the Danube Water Balance project was launched to improve the efficiency of cross-border and intersectoral water management in the Danube River Basin, solving water quantity issues", the State Secretary emphasized.

Pointing out in particular the importance of future financial support to candidate countries, he underlined that a single, synchronized system would facilitate the integration of administrative capacities developed during the pre-accession period into the framework of the cohesion policy, and added that such an approach was essential for encouraging sustainable development and EU integration in the Western Balkans.

State Secretary Stojanovic concluded that the expectations from Austrian Presidency were entirely fulfilled and extended his congratulations on all the results achieved in the past year, taking the opportunity to wish success to the upcoming presidency holder - Bosnia and Herzegovina.