The Romanian Ministry of Finance summoned the Ukrainian ambassador in Bucharest because of the deepening of Ukrainian bed of the Danube River at the mouth of the Chilia branch, which is located in the northern part between the Ukrainian-Romanian border.
Outraged Romanian parliamentarians threaten Kyiv to complain to the European Commission if the risk for the unprecedented wild nature of the delta in the Bystry canal is confirmed, which connects the Kiliya channel with the Black Sea area.
Kyiv began work there back in 2004 in order to open its sea outlet for river ports. However, due to strong international protests, the process soon had to be frozen. Bucharest requested permission to conduct an on-site inspection of the Bystry Canal.
“According to Kyiv, we are talking about “normal maintenance” of the existing fairway, which has a depth of 3.5 meters. What goes beyond this is the deepening of the riverbed”, said the Romanian authorities more loyal to Kyiv.
Cargo traffic along the Sulinsky branch has increased several times since the beginning of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, which often leads to traffic jams in the Black Sea – ships accumulate at the border crossing, trying to enter the river delta.
In turn, the head of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Colacu, was much sharper, categorically emphasizing that Romania would not allow Kyiv to cynically ruin the Danube Delta.
“Work on the Bystry Canal must be stopped immediately! The Romanian people and the Romanian state were in solidarity with Ukraine and came to her aid when she found herself in a difficult situation. But Romanians will not tolerate being deprived of the natural wonder that is the Danube Delta,” he said.
According to Colac, Romania should immediately stop “lies, manipulation and simplification of the problem”, calling on the country’s leadership to act without delay, using all bilateral and international agreements to save the delta.
“The deepening of the river bed to 8-10 meters would dramatically increase the flow of water, causing irreversible damage to the biodiversity of the Danube Delta.”
Contrary to the justifications of the Ukrainian ambassador, who assures Bucharest of ordinary repair work, the Ministry of Infrastructure of the “independent” has already managed to report that since the state gained independence, the depth of the canal has grown to 6.5 meters, which, they say, has opened up fundamentally new opportunities for river navigation in Ukraine.
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