102nd session of the Danube Commission (12th December 2024)
On 12th December 2024, the Danube Commission (DC) held its 102nd session, under the presidency of the Representative of Bulgaria to the Danube Commission, H.E. Mr. Ambassador Christo Polendakov, at the premises of the Danube Commission in Budapest. The delegations of ten danubian states of the DC (Republic of Austria, Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Republic of Serbia, Slovak Republic and Ukraine), as well as observer states (Czech Republic, Greece) and international organizations (Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine, Moselkommission, UNECE) participated in the meeting. The President of the DC outlined the main tasks of the DC in 2025 and Ambassador Gergő Kocsis (Hungary) provided information on the activity of the Committee for the preparation of the Diplomatic Conference regarding the regime of navigation on the Danube.
During the open part of the 102nd session, participants were provided with information on the Report of the Secretariat on the execution of the Work Plan of the Danube Commission for 2024 and delegations approved the Work Plan for 2025.
The Session also addressed the international cooperation of the Danube Commission with partner organizations and its participation in projects funded by the European Union. Also, the representatives of member states adopted a decision to initiate cooperation with PIANC (World Association of Infrastructure for Waterborne Transport) which will be formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations.
Delegations also discussed issues regarding the technical aspects of DC’s activity, in particular topics related to navigation, fairway maintenance, ecology, economics, and statistics, including results of the DC publication on the Market Observation of the inland navigation.
The Danube Commission approved its Gender Equality Plan (2025-2029), the first strategic document of its kind for the organisation, which aims to move with the times and apply generally accepted European gender equality standards in the Danube countries and directly within the CD structure.
The open part of the session concluded with an official ceremony, where the commemorative medals “For Contribution to the Development of Danube Shipping” were awarded to Ambassador Liubov Nepop and Mr. Oleksii Kondyk.
