Romanian transport ministry raises the issue of Ukrainian dredging of Danube canal in Brussels [Translation in comments]

22 comments

  1. Article translation using DeepL:

    The Minister of Transport has reportedly raised the issue of Ukraine dredging the Bastia Channel with the European authorities in Brussels. Sorin Grindeanu has spoken with Adina Vălean, the European Commissioner for Transport, sources close to the talks told HotNews.ro. The same sources say that Vălean said that “Brussels will NOT accept, under any pretext, Ukraine’s violation of international and bilateral environmental conventions”.

    The Transport Minister will inform Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă today about the situation and will provide him with the data submitted by the shipping companies under the MTI’s coordination, according to the sources.

    At present, according to information from the Romanian authorities, the Ukrainian side has dredged to a minimum of 7 m on the Bastia Canal, while the Romanian side has not been informed about the deepening works.

    What effects have already appeared in the Delta after the deepening works on the Bastia Channel

    At the same time, the Ukrainian naval authorities have already informed shipowners that the channel is 7 metres deep, which allows large vessels to enter the Bastia Canal, and that the flow on the Sulina arm has already decreased due to the works carried out by the Ukrainian side, which affects the movement of transport vessels, according to the sources mentioned.

    In addition, dredging also carried out on the Chilia arm to ensure flows on the Batross is causing water to recede from adjacent channels in the Danube Delta and affecting both flora and fauna and passenger transport.

    “The Ukrainians dump the dredged material into the Black Sea and the sea currents bring this silt to the Sulina Bar, which causes the depths to drop. Already the depth of the Sulina Bar has dropped by 70 cm”, according to HotNews.ro sources, who remind that according to the 1948 Belgrade Convention the only navigable channel accepted in the Danube Delta is the Sulina Channel.

    Scandal of dredging of the Bastia canal by Ukraine

    The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure announces that the depth of the Bastia Canal has been increased from 3.9 to 6.5 metres, “a great opportunity for the river capacity of the Danube”, although the Ukrainian Embassy in Bucharest has claimed that this is only maintenance work on the waterway.

    Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă had a first reaction on Monday in the scandal over dredging works done by Ukraine, saying that the Ukrainian ambassador in Bucharest was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Monday to request Ukraine’s approval for the Romanian authorities to go and check.

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) announced on Thursday that it will inform the European Commission that Romania opposes Ukraine’s intention – which is not new – to carry out dredging works on the Bastia Canal, saying that so far it has not been informed by any Romanian institution about works to deepen the Bastia Canal that the Ukrainians would now carry out

  3. I am surprised that this news is finally allowed on the subreddit.

    A lot of threads about this really important news have been deleted for no reason.

    Let’s see how long this thread (and my comment) stay.

  4. Suddenly inflaming out of proportions a non-issue, just to poison the Romanian solidarity to Ukraine as the latter tragically struggles for survival.

    I wonder, *cui prodest*.

  5. Can’t wait for this post to also get deleted, just because Ukraine needs our support that doesn’t mean they can get a pass for every crap they do.

  6. Let’s look at the bright side. The war must be going very well for Ukraine if they have time to do shit like this.

  8. Ukraine is not beyond criticism. When it comes to environmental and ecological matters, all our governments across Europe need to be shown harsh criticism for their actions and those issues spotlighted in public media.

  9. Disgusting that while they’re being bombarded daily and everyone is striving to help them with everything they need they have the time? and audacity to do this behind our backs and also illegally…

    Perhaps they need to act less russian if they really want to be part of europe.

    Everyone should keep in mind that this is being done in plain sight with the probable intent of blaming the destruction of the delta on the war despite their full blame on this specific matter….

  10. Lol I guess the post should have been named “reddit allows posting some criticism of Ukraine”. Nobody talks about the issue itself (except the OP), everyone talks about mods and Reddit policies. Reddit talks about Reddit, what else is new

  11. For those who don’t know the Danube delta is a biosphere reserve, protected by national, international and EU laws. It is a sanctuary of biodiversity and is sensitive to such intrusive practices by humans. It is truly a natural jewel.

    This is a serious concern and not the first time there have been issues with Ukraine over not respecting commitments. The war does not entitle them to do anything they please. I particularly care about the delta as I am an avid nature and fishing enthusiast.

    Aside from this there are conventions and rules and neither us nor them can do any work without the other’s consent. They are bypassing international agreements by saying they are only doing maintenance when in fact they are dredging to allow for higher tonnage ships to pass, as they themselves have said. They are behaving in a very questionable manner and are lying about the works they are doing. This will affect the other canals as the volume of water passing through them will decrease and affect the flora and fauna.

  12. Shouldn’t Ukraine be more concerned with other things like…A FUCKING WAR than to dredge up canals and get into conflicts with the friendly neighbors?

  14. That’s stupid. The only think they accomplish is killing our delta which is a protected unesco ecosystem. How in the hell they are doing this during the war anyway? Jesus, I hope they get it together.

  17. Fk ukr government. Yep. Europe should stop helping them starting tomorrow. Wtf is this disrespectful bullshit. They shit on us because being poorer we help them the least? I really hope this doesnt go unanswered, even if US might put pressure on romania to kiss ukr ass

  18. Ukraine want’s to deepen the canal to 8 meters. Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment seems he doesn’t care about the best preserved river delta in Europe and doesn’t have a reaction on this. He is married to a ukranian women.

  19. Why is there such a low interest for these threads? This is legit concerning. Do people not know what Danube Delta is? Do they not care because it’s in Romania? Wth is this bullshit double standard on this sub.

  21. Doesn’t Ukraine have whole port of Odessa? Why would they be so schizo on dredging a canal trough UNESCO natural site? Just pack your shit on train and load it in Odessa if you are so offended to ask Romania for transit permit?

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