EU Might Finance the Building of the Bistroe Channel inside the Danube Delta

The recently signed Common Action Plan between the European Union and Ukraine states that the Bistroe Channel carved inside the Danube Delta for navigation purposes could be funded with EU money.

The Romanian authorities did not have a firm reaction, and this might lead to the destruction of the Danube Delta.
According to the EU-Ukraine Action Plan, many of the joint projects mentioned there could get partial financing from the EU taxpayers. This means that Europeans might give money for the destruction of the Danube Delta too, via the construction of the Bistroe Channel on the Ukrainian section of the Delta.

Though Romanian authorities should have reacted by now and protest, they failed to do so. Only the minister for foreign affairs, Razvan Ungureanu, said that the EU is supporting Romania’s stance on the issue of the Bistroe Channel.

Ungureanu said that the EU-Ukraine Action Plan does not concern the Bistroe Channel, but the exploitation of the River Danube in its entirety. But the Bistroe Channel is the only one which will allow transportation on Ukrainian territory.

The only organizations to react were the non-profit Save the Danube and the weekly Academia Catavencu.
Liviu Mihaiu, president of Save the Danube, said that he cannot believe things will go that far, but that his organization will react in case they will. "We will take to the streets and protest in front of the Delegation of the European Commission in Bucharest, as we did before," said Mihaiu.

The authorities in Bucharest are intent on changing the current Governor of the Danube Delta, Virgil Munteanu, with a person of their own political hue. Munteanu protested against the environmental disaster the Danube Delta is about to be subjected to, but sources in the Ministry of the Environment told Jurnalul National that the Ministry will first conduct a check of the Governor’s activity, and then replace him.

International experts think though that Munteanu should keep his position. Tobias Salathe, the regional coordinator for Europe of the Ramsar Convention, said that Munteanu did an excellent job in the Danube Delta. "I talked with Munteanu about the granting of water surface for fishing exploitation and I believe he acted in the best interest of the Delta, stopping its overexploitation for economic purposes," said Salathe.
Patrice Costa, of the League for Bird Protection, said that Munteanu was the best option for a Danube Delta Governor, because of his "sensitivity regarding environmental issues." "I hope that Munteanu will keep his position. If the Government in Bucharest will decide to change him for another person, it will make a big mistake. Munteanu proved to not be tainted by corruption, while the new Romanian President [Traian Basescu] won his position on an anti-corruption platform," said Costa.