Hungary establishes the Danube Coordination Centre

It is high time the Danube Coordination Centre was set up – said Minister of Interior, Sándor Pintér at the opening conference of the Danube River Forum in Budapest. The establishment of the centre and the definition of operation principles is a common task – added the Minister of Interior.

Nine invited countries – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia an Ukraine along with numerous EU organizations participate at the two-day conference.

According to Minister Pintér the Danube is a great treasure for Hungary but it can be dangerous as well. Referring to the winter ice and the floods of summer, he recalled that the river covered more than 10 thousand acres of land and in Germany and Austria taking several victims as well.

Minister Pintér mentioned that according to a 2011 Europol study the Danube is highly endangered by human trafficking, illegal migration, smuggling and trafficking of drug and weapons. According to the Minister, the European Commission made an appropriate decision by adding the battle against organized crime to the priorities of the Danube Strategy.