EUWI+ contributed to several events organised to celebrate Danube Day in Giurgiulesti (Moldova) and Kiliya (Ukraine).
In Moldova, several major events took place in Giurgiulesti (Moldova), the country’s only access to the main river course:
- The opening of the new Giurgiulesti City Park, including speeches by the mayor, the minister of the environment, EU ambassador, water agency agencies from Moldova and Romania, and French first counsellor.
- The finish line of a sporting challenge to raise awareness on Danube protection, gathering young cyclists along the Prut.
- A festive picnic on the bank of the Danube provided by Danube Logistic, manager of the International Free Port of Giurgiulesti, to highlight Danube’s key role in the country’s economic development.
Romano-Moldavian Friendship between practitioners involved in Prut basin management planning on both side of the river bank delimitating the border between the 2 countries
Every year, on 29 June, all Danube River Basin countries celebrate Danube Day as the anniversary of the signature of the Danube River Protection Convention in 1994 in Sophia, Bulgaria. The three Moldovan rivers Prut, Ialpug and Cahul are part of the Danube Basin. This makes the Republic of Moldova one of the 19 key Danube countries. It is involved in major transboundary cooperation actions such as developing planning to protect the quality of the river basins, and taking part in the Joint Danube Survey n°4 international monitoring campaign. On both actions, the EUWI+East project supports the Republic of Moldova.
Saturday 29 June: dozens of people gathered in Giurgiulesti to celebrate Danube Day
The Danube Day celebrations on Saturday were organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment (MARDE) of the Republic of Moldova, Giurgiulesti City Hall, Danube Logistics, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), Solidarity Water Europe (SWE) and EUWI +.
Musicians played a folk concert, craftsmen presented their work and people tasted traditional food on the bright sunny day. All of the ingredients were there to celebrate the cultural richness and diversity of the Danube basin’s territory.
Youth in Giurgiulesty new city park celebrating the Danube day
The EUWI+ stand attracted many people: the Danube Passport Photo zone to popularise basin citizenship was a major attraction and the cyclists who participated in the youth sporting challenge shared their impressions of their journey including the remarkable wetland area all along the downstream part of the Prut with the UNESCO biosphere reserve.
Georgeta Mincu, the new Moldovan Minister for Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment
The event was attended by the new Moldovan Minister Ms Georgeta Mincu, as well as the Head of the EU Delegation in Moldova (EU ambassador in Moldova) Peter Michalko. They emphasised the Danube’s importance for the socio-economic development of the region, and the vital role played by the port of Giurgiulesti on the banks of this river, which connects the region to Europe and the sea.
Connecting water stakeholders for inclusive water governance
During the opening ceremony, many water management practitioners spoke, drawing attention to transboundary cooperation.
Irina Tutunaru (from the Romanian Water Agency “Apele Romane” responsible for planning on the Romanian side of the Prut river basin) gave a speech and presented General Director of Apele Romane, Victor Sandu, whose greeting speech underlined the importance of transboundary cooperation to share knowledge and experience, unite and empower a broad range of people, stakeholders and countries/ governments to find the best solutions for their shared water resource.
The Head of the European Delegation, Peter Michalko, underlined the specific character of the EUWI+ project, a horizontal partnership that aims at ensuring strong ownership by the partner countries, building bridges for local development.
Peter Michalko, Head of the European Delegation in the Republic of Moldova
The EUWI+ project cooperates with Moldovan institutions in the water sector to improve planning of water resources management through a water resource management tool: the River Basin Management Plan.
The future Danube Prut Black Sea River Basin Management Plan is currently under preparation in Moldova for the period 2021-2027. This timeline is the same for the whole basin thanks to the EU Water Framework Directive that contributes to harmonizing planning efforts between all 19 Danube countries.
EUWI+ support is targeted to understand water better through a reinforced monitoring system, the purchase of laboratory equipment, and support for laboratory accreditation according to European quality standards.