 |
Discussions with the Minister
of Natural resources, Ms. Mihajlov, were fruitful - Serbia will fully
play its part in the Danube cooperation |
"In August 2003, Serbia-Montenegro became a full partner in the Danube
River Protection Convention and with this visit we hope to ensure active
participation of experts from Serbia-Montenegro in all ICPDR working groups.
If we can achieve this important goal, we will fill what has for the last
decade been a white spot on the Danube map”. With these words Fritz
Holzwarth, the ICPDR President, late in October last year opened a series
of high levels meetings in Belgrade with officials of Serbia-Montenegro
including the Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, the Minister of Agriculture
and Water Management Stojan Jevtic and the Minister of Protection of Natural
Resources and Environment of the Republic of Serbia, Andjelka Mihajlov.
Catching up on the lost years
In the two-day visit made together with Philip Weller, the ICPDR Executive
Secretary, President Holzwarth emphasized the need to catch up on the "lost
years” and to ensure full integration of Serbia-Montenegro in the
activities of the ICPDR. A central theme was the need to establish clear
lines of communication and responsibility to the ICPDR and ensure active
coordination among all the responsible federal and provincial authorities
in Serbia-Montenegro and among the technical experts at the country's key
institutions.
During the visit, the Head of Serbia-Montenegro's Delegation to the ICPDR,
Zdravko Tuvic, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there were plans
to transfer the responsibilities for ICPDR affairs from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to a central authority fully responsible for water management
that would coordinate the input of Serbian experts. He noted, however, that
the water management sector in Serbia-Montenegro was in transition and there
were unclear lines of responsibility between the ministries and the provincial
authorities. "It is essential that we involve persons from a variety
of different ministries and institutions and ensure effective coordination
by the Head of Delegation," said Tuvic.
Enthusiasm triggers quick action
"Despite the obvious difficulties, the level of enthusiasm for integration
in the work of the ICPDR was very high among all the persons we met, from
the ministerial level down," President Holzwarth said. He added that
the problems in Serbia-Montenegro appeared to be of organizational nature
rather than a lack of competent experts or persons with the technical capacity
to manage waters effectively.
During a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Serbian side
emphasized that the decision on a new Head of Delegation would be made shortly
and that the role
of the ministries and institutions responsible for expert input to the ICPDR
would be clarified immediately after. Indeed, only a week following the
ICPDR visit, Igor Tadic, the Director of Water of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia, was appointed as the new
Head of Delegation to the ICPDR. At the ICPDR Ordinary Meeting in early
December 2003, President Holzwarth and the attending Danube countries' delegations
were happy to be able to welcome a five-strong delegation from Serbia-Montenegro
headed by Tadic. During their follow-up visit to the ICPDR Secretariat in
Vienna, Deputy Head of Delegation Milan Dimkic and other technical experts
were keen to gather the necessary information that would enable representatives
of Serbia-Montenegro to participate in all the ICPDR working groups. Work
is now in full swing to ensure full and active participation.