While the international media is doubling down on attacking Hungary, alleging that it is the only country in the Western alliance that is sceptical of some of Kyiv’s actions, in fact Romania has also criticised Ukraine on a number of occasions. When in early February Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the Special European Council Meeting in Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was accused of being the only one who did not applaud his Ukrainian colleague. In reality, however, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis was not clapping either. Earlier it was mainly the treatment of the Romanian minority in Ukraine that caused friction between the two countries, most recently, tensions have also risen over the Danube Delta.
Over the last couple of months, Ukraine has been deepening the Danube Delta with the intent of boosting its trade through the Bystroye Canal. On 8 March, Kyiv announced to have deepened the Bystroye Canal from 3.9 meters to 6.5 meters, which could potentially add an extra 500,000 tonnes to its currently 1.5 million tonnes per month trade through the Danube Delta. The river’s economic significance was seriously boosted since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv’s access to other Black Sea ports is now limited, so the Bystroye Canal perceived as a vital link to keep Ukrainian trade flowing. In the 1990s, the canal was also 6.5 meters deep, but gradually it accumulated more silt, reducing the canal’s depth to 3.9 meters. Ukraine does not plan to stop at 6.5 meters, in fact, the dredging is likely to continue until the canal reaches a depth of 8.2–8.3 metres.
Romania, on the other hand, is not pleased.
The country shares the Danube Delta region with Ukraine and has raised environmental concerns about the ongoing and planned dredging. The Danube Delta is the second largest river delta in Europe, which was inscribed into UNESCO’s World Heritage site in the 1990s because the Razim-Sinoe lagoon, located on Romania’s side of the delta, has a unique geological and ecological significance.
Romania has expressed concerns that Ukraine’s dredging not only puts the protected area at risk, but also violates international environmental protection treaties. Minister of Environment, Water and Forests Barna Tánczos, a Hungarian Romanian politician announced in mid-February that his ministry is prepared to prevent all works on the Bystroye canal that adversely affect biodiversity and the unique ecology of the territory, and he also reminded Kyiv that neither the Romanian nor the Ukrainian legislation allows either party to carry out works in the area. The Danube Delta’s ecology is already negatively impacted by the armed conflict—due to the excess pollution and noise that is caused by the war dozens of dead dolphins and other sea creatures were washed up along the shore.
The Bystroye Canal led to political tensions between Romania and Ukraine already when it was reconstructed in 2004. When it learned about the dredging, Bucharest threatened Kyiv with a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice. Even the European Commission issued a statement back then, condemning Ukraine’s decision to put the Danube Delta’s environment at risk with the construction of the canal. In the 2000s the United States as well as a series of environmental organisations also called Ukraine out on its canal-building.
The dredging of the Danube Delta is not the only issue Romania and Ukraine do not see eye to eye on.
Earlier, Ukraine’s new minority law also received heavy criticism from Bucharest.
Ukraine is home to a considerable Romanian minority whose right to use their mother tongue has been curbed by Kyiv’s legislation. Soon after the law was passed in January, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as we have reported, expressed its disappointment with Ukraine’s decision to adopt a ‘flawed minority law that allows the restrictions of rights and ignores the needs of national communities living in the country.´ The legislation was pushed through without any consultation with representatives of recognised Ukrainian minority groups.
Bucharest and Budapest appear to agree that while it is unquestionable that Ukraine is the victim of Russian aggression, the fact that it is waging a homeland-defending war does not justify its breaking of international norms.
