PARLIAMENT OF ROMANIA
THE SENATE
Declaration – Appeal
to halt the construction by Ukraine of the Bystroye Canal
The Senate of Romania expresses its disapproval and protest at the construction and official inauguration by the Ukrainian authorities, on the 26th of August 2004, of the first part of the Bystroye Canal. In spite of the numerous steps taken by the Romanian authorities, the criticisms and the position stated by the European Commission, the Council of Europe, some EU member States and the US Department of State, and of protests staged by academic circles and more than 300 ecological organisations world-wide, including those in Kiev, the Ukrainian authorities pursued unilaterally the construction works of the Canal.
The Bystroe Canal cuts through an area of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, a natural resource shared between Romania and Ukraine, part of the World Natural Heritage, placed under UNESCO’s special protection, and also protected under the Ramsar Convention on the Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat.
As indicated by the Romanian specialists and some international experts from prestigious institutions of environmental protection, the construction of the navigable canal on the Bystroye arm of the Danube will have many negative consequences on the Danube ecosystem, affecting the ecological equilibrium of the Danube Delta, including that of the Biosphere Reserve as a whole - a unique area in Europe - by damaging the habitat of 4,000 species of plants and animals, causing losses of fish species, activating a process of pollution of the canal waters and river borders with oil and other noxious substances, affecting the social and economic situation of the local population whose main means of subsistence are linked to traditional fishing.
The Romanian party is not in agreement with the works undertaken in the border waters area, since they were launched with the Ukrainian party failing to comply with its obligations to notify and consult with Romania, in conformity with the provisions of certain bilateral agreements and international treaties to which Ukraine is a party. They contravene also to the provisions of the Treaty between the two countries on the State Border Regime, in force since 2003. Ignoring knowingly the numerous steps taken by Romania and defying international reactions, Ukraine pursued unilaterally the development of works on the Bystroye Canal, although an International Impact Assessment was indispensable for an accurate and impartial evaluation of this project’s repercussions on one of the most important and vulnerable ecological system in Europe.
The disregard – at times even defiance, by the authorities of the neighbouring country of the repeated warnings the officials in Bucharest gave, as well as the defiance of the reactions coming from the international and Romanian public opinion in the Bystroye case give rise to a deep concern over the willingness of Ukraine's decision-making factors to honour the commitments made at bilateral and multilateral level.
Giving expression to the internal and international public opinion, the Senate of Romania turns to the European Parliament, the Parliaments of the Member States of the Council of Europe, European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance, requesting that action be taken using all available means in order to halt the construction of the Canal on the Bystroye arm in the Danube Delta, until an independent and objective international evaluation of its impact on the ecosystem in the area has been conducted.
We believe that through concerted political and diplomatic efforts within a firm joint action in the spirit of the international law, we will be able to determine Ukraine to comply with the provisions of the international law and to observe the commitments made at both bilateral and international level with respect to environmental protection in general, and the protection of the Danube ecosystem, in particular.
At the same time, the Senate reiterates Romania’s interest in solving the conflict situation that emerged at the Danube River’s mouth through a constructive Romanian-Ukrainian dialogue, in the spirit of the principles that should govern the good neighbourliness relations between the two countries, and in full observance of the bilateral legal documents in force, as well as of the international norms in the field.
This Declaration-Appeal was adopted by the Senate in its plenary meeting of 1st September 2004.
SPEAKER OF THE SENATE
Nicolae Văcăroiu
