Euro-Regional Danubian Cooperation

Abstract

The Danube is the second longest river in Europe, with a total length of 2850 km, along the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, its longest stretch being on the Romanian territory (around 1100 km). Transit and trade on the Danube has increased since the eighteenth century, when the river acquired an international character with the Treaty of Paris of 1856, which established a regime of internationalization of the river, based on freedom of navigation for all States, including the non-riparian ones. In this context, the Lower Danube euro-region stands at the confluence of three countries, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine with one the longest European river and seems to confirm, one more, the importance of the Danube, not only as a commercial and trade route, but also as a major cooperation catalyst between independent and friendly States.