Twenty-two years ago on the 29th of June the fourteen Danube countries jointly voted for a cleaner and safer river and signed the Danube River Protection Convention in Sofia. The twenty-two years of international cooperation strengthened our responsibility to protect this exceptional natural resource and also called the attention that there is still a lot to do to achieve a sustainable water management and to reduce environmental risks in the entire basin.

The Danube as the most international river in the world is celebrated every year. The River crosses 10 countries while flowing from the Black Forest to the Black Sea and unites more than 81 million people living on its watershed. 29 June, the international Danube Day was the day to celebrate along the Danube and its tributaries in 2016 too!

PA5 Hungarian experts contributed to the organization of Danube Day events in Budapest and the joint celebration with Ukraine in the neighbouring villages of Tiszakóród and Galabor by the Tisza River.

On the 29th of June a conference was held in Budapest at the Ministry of Internal Affairs with presentations of water management experts and Hungarian representatives of EUSDR and ICPDR on updates about the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, the 2016 Budapest Water Summit and the work of the ICPDR. Also the world of Danube fish species and the relation of water with the forests were highlighted by ecologist and forester colleagues. It was followed by a sightseeing cruise tour in Budapest organized by the PA5 team, watching sturgeon release, listening to the presentation of PA4 PAC on Danube water quality issues and finally, the participants visited the Green Island project site, where the reduction of ship’s hazardous waste emission is a daily practice.

Tiszakóród and its Ukrainian neighbour Galabor village were the spots of a joint Danube Day event one day earlier. The two communities are historically linked by the Tisza River. In addition, the common celebration of the Danube Day was suitable to strengthen cooperation and to make people aware of the Tisza as the main driver of their life. The idea was elaborated by the PA5 HU PAC.

The opening ceremony took place on the mid-point of the River with the state- and regional-level representatives from Ukraine and Hungary, ICPDR and also with EUSDR PA5 PAC. As it was mentioned during the speeches the exemplary Hungarian-Ukrainian cooperation on the field of water management reminds of several floods and inland access water situations which strengthened the relation also between the water directorates. Besides the harmonized operative flood prevention and protection tasks, cooperation is excellent thanks to the jointly operated remote water gauging stations, the commonly developed flood localization plans and future conception on flood protection developments to support remembering on our shared responsibilities.

The diverse programme incorporated later professional meeting on water resource cooperation, a cooking competition, boat trips, the so called ’Tisza with love’ music festival, fish art installation by children, and inhabitants were also temporary allowed for crossing the border – using their passports – between the two banks of the River to visit the events of both sides.

If you want to read more about Danube Day please visit its official website:http://www.danubeday.org/

Cooking competition in Tiszakóród (Source: http://www.eduvizig.hu/content/duna-nap-2016-tiszakóród)

The floating venue of the Danube Day in Tiszakóród (Source: http://kotivizig.vizugy.hu/kepgaleriak/20160708/index.html)

Danube Day conference in Budapest (Source: Csattos Pál)

Cruise sightseeing tour arrives to the ‘Green Island’ project site