The need for better flood prevention and disaster relief efforts was high on the agenda of a recent meeting among the foreign ministers of Hungary, Romania and Serbia-Montenegro.
By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade - 25/04/06
The foreign ministers of Hungary, Romania and Serbia-Montenegro -- Ferenc Somogy, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu and Vuk Draskovic, respectively -- met on 19 April in Novi Sad. The talks took place amid severe flooding that has inundated the region, causing millions of euros in agricultural losses and forcing a halt to shipping on the Danube.
The three leaders signed a border agreement and discussed setting up an industrial zone to spur economic development. They also stressed the need to join forces in coping with floods, repairing damage and achieving better organisation in the future.
"I have informed my colleagues on how to strengthen the defence mechanism against floods and we agreed that we should rely on help from the EU. The EU should adopt a directive as soon as possible that will be flexible on the matter of the three countries' joint defence," Somogy said.
The three governments agreed to launch consultations on joint efforts at flood prevention and response. "The agreement is very clear -- we cannot wait for next year, the rivers cannot handle bigger surges of water than this year's," Draskovic told journalists, adding that "we must never again rely on the probability factor."
According to Ungureanu, one of the measures under consideration is the establishment of a trilateral fund to provide aid to the endangered population in all three countries. A meeting of natural disaster experts also has been proposed, he said.
Nearly 6,700 people have been forced to flee their homes as the Danube continues to flood villages and farmland in Romania.
In Serbia, more than 122,500 hectares of farmland are underwater, and another 112,000 hectares are in danger, according to the agriculture ministry. Local authorities have estimated farm damage at 35.7m euros. With the Danube closed to shipping for more than three weeks this month, ships are said to have transported less than a third of the usual average monthly quantity of goods in April.
An international agency monitoring the river said that trials for a regional flood alert system would begin later this year.