During the session, the new leadership of the Danube Commission was elected

The 101st session of the Danube Commission (DC) took place in the city of Budapest, during which a new leadership was elected.

This was announced by the head of the Shipping Administration, Yevhenii Ignatenko.

During the meeting, the representatives of the Danube states elected the new leadership of the Danube Commission: Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary for the period 2024-2027:

• Chairman – His Excellency Mr. Hristo Polendakov, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Hungary;

• Vice-Chairman – His Excellency Mr. Pavol Hamzyk, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Hungary;

• Secretary – His Excellency Mladen Andrlic, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Hungary.

In particular, during the meeting, the main tasks and achievements of the organization in 2024 were highlighted and the work of the Committee for the Preparation of the Diplomatic Conference on the Danube Navigation Regime was informed.

In addition, the session once again noted that the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in violation of the basic principles of the Belgrade Convention, continues to cause serious destruction of the Danube infrastructure, which has negative consequences for Danube navigation.

It should be noted that the meeting was attended by the delegations of all the Danube countries (the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Bulgaria, Hungary, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, the Republic of Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Ukraine and the Republic of Croatia), as well as observer states (Greece).

We will remind, in March 2024, Russia was officially expelled from the Danube Commission. In addition, for the first time in history, the Commission imposed a fine on the Russian Federation for non-payment of contributions after the removal of its powers in March 2022.