On January 1, 2026, Bulgaria took over the presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region for the second time. Until the end of the year, the countries will be united by the motto “Connected regions, more cohesion: A stronger Danube for all.”
The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works in the outgoing government, Ivan Ivanov, pointed out that the strategy works to utilize the potential of the Danube region, improve socio-economic development, and modernize transport corridors. The coordination mechanism is a tool for strategic planning and vision alignment.
The added value for Bulgaria is in the partnership and interaction in the implementation of projects, giving priority to projects that contribute to the goals of the strategy.
Among the priorities of the Bulgarian presidency are reducing disparities, increasing demographic and territorial sustainability, as well as strengthening cooperation with candidate countries for EU membership. The strategy will serve as a platform for dialogue between institutions.
The strategy covers 14 countries with a population of 115 million people. Bulgaria is engaged in two priority areas related to security, culture, and tourism. Bulgaria's first presidency was in October 2017.