SARAJEVO, January 8 (FENA) – As of January 1 this year, Bosnia and Herzegovina has assumed the presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). Bosnia and Herzegovina took over the one-year presidency from the Republic of Austria.
A symbolic handover ceremony was held in Vienna on December 9, 2024, during the official visit of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmedin Konaković, to Austria.
During the ceremony, Austria’s Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Alexander Schallenberg, handed over the helm, the symbol of EUSDR, to Minister Konaković.
The focus of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s presidency of the EUSDR will be to accelerate the EU enlargement process. Other priorities will include youth issues, brain drain, security, tourism, and connectivity.
EUSDR is one of four existing EU macro-regional strategies, serving as an integrated framework for addressing common challenges in the same geographical area.
The EUSDR includes 14 countries. In addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina, members include Montenegro, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine as EU candidate countries, as well as nine EU member states: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg), Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The strategy was established by the European Council in 2011. EUSDR aims to create synergy and coordination between existing policies and initiatives taking place across the Danube region, home to around 115 million citizens.
Bosnia and Herzegovina also participates in the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR).
