The Bulgarian presidency of the Danube Strategy has asked the European Commission to align its future policies and initiatives with the region's challenges stemming from low water levels on the river, droughts and other hydrological crises. The request was made through a statement issued by the strategy itself, the press office of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works announced.
The document calls for current and future European programs, investments and financial instruments to help affected countries and regions become more resilient to such crises.
The statement underscores what the river means for Europe — it is a key transport and economic corridor connecting more than 110 million people across 14 countries. But low water levels are hitting more than just shipping. Transport and connectivity between regions, energy supplies, tourism, the availability and quality of surface and groundwater, ecosystems and biodiversity are all affected. Soils in vulnerable areas, economic activities and critical infrastructure are also suffering — and with them, the overall resilience of communities along the Danube.
The document also proposes concrete steps. Priority areas of the strategy have been invited to take part in a broader macro-regional assessment of the consequences of low water levels and recurring drought periods. The goal is to map out the region's shared vulnerabilities, identify what long-term measures are needed, what investments are required and where opportunities exist for joint projects. This work will be carried out together with the European Commission, the Danube Commission, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River and other relevant bodies. The aim is to turn the strategy into a working tool — one that links the region's cross-border problems with EU policy and funding.
Bulgaria holds the presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region in 2026 through the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. The ministry notes that the initiative for a joint response to the river's low water levels builds on earlier efforts by the Bulgarian presidency. The goal is for the region's cross-border problems to receive a stronger European response, with the needs of the countries, regions and people along the river better reflected in EU policies and instruments.
On the initiative of the Bulgarian presidency of the Danube Strategy, the messages of the EU's four macro-regional strategies were united for the first time. These cover the Baltic Sea, the Danube Region, the Adriatic-Ionian Region and the Alpine Region. The messages address the future of macro-regional cooperation and the next European budget. Specific guidelines were also drawn up on how the Danube Strategy's priorities can be better linked to future European policies, programs and funding opportunities. The goal, the ministry explains, is for cooperation between countries to deliver more concrete solutions and investments precisely where individual states cannot manage on their own.
Fifteen years after its creation, the Danube Strategy brings together nine EU member states and five more that are in the process of joining. The ministry describes it as an important tool for shared solutions to problems that do not stop at national borders.
In the second half of September, the Executive Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River in Ruse announced that the hydrological situation on the Bulgarian stretch of the river remains complicated due to low water levels. The decline has been going on for months now.