The first expert meeting during the Bulgarian Presidency, on the topic of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region, will take place on 1 February 2018 in Sofia. The event, which will be attended by the coordinators of the priority areas, will be chaired by Denitsa Nikolova, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works and National Coordinator for the Danube Strategy. The Forum is an integral part of the programme of the Bulgarian Presidency due to the close link between the topics at macro-regional and European level and the fact that the macro-regional strategies are the framework for the implementation of European policies in the respective region.