Danube River Basin Management Plan 2015 presented

For a topical reason, the Danube is currently making headlines in Slovakia and beyond for another reason. A total of 14 countries have agreed on a programme in a joint declaration, the Danube River Basin Management Plan 2015, which aims to protect the Danube and its immediate catchment area from environmental and nature-related damage in the long term. In addition to the ten countries directly bordering the river—Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine— the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have also committed to protecting the Danube. Although the declaration does not go far enough for environmental groups WWF and BUND, it includes binding measures that should make it possible to safeguard the unique natural habitat of some rare animal and plant species for the long term. 

River cruises on the Danube are an important part of holidays in Slovakia, which is why the government in Bratislava must also have a strong interest in protecting Europe’s longest river. In the words of the Danube River Basin Management Plan 2015, the countries along the river and their partners aim for “sustainable water use in the Danube catchment area” and to bring the Danube and its tributaries—some of which are also found in Slovakia—into “good ecological status”.