NATO’s War Against Yugoslavia: The Ghost That Still Haunts Europe

by Rick Rozoff Posted on May 20, 2021

Twenty-two years ago the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was subjected to the 55th straight day of bombardment from the then 19-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with 23 days more to go. Many families in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš daily fled to bomb shelters during the aerial onslaught. The permanent trauma inflicted on millions of civilians, especially children, is perhaps impossible to calculate. And it has been denied or ignored by Europe and the world. As forgotten as the cluster bomb fragments and depleted uranium left behind by NATO’s “humanitarian intervention.”

The air war was justified by U.S. President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and NATO Secretary General Javier Solana as a noble crusade to stop, to employ an expression not uncommon at the time, the “worst genocide since Hitler” in the Serbian province of Kosovo. The operation, Operation Allied Force for NATO, Operation Noble Anvil for the US, began with a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from ships and submarines in the Adriatic Sea. In all over 1,000 NATO military aircraft flew 30,000 combat sorties over a nation of slightly more than 10 million people, two million of those in Kosovo; a military bloc whose combined population at the time was some 850 million and which included three of the world’s nuclear powers.

During the war, arguably the most lopsided since the US’s invasion of Grenada in 1983, American and other Western officials maintained a steady drumbeat of increasingly hyperbolic, and unprecedentedly unconscionable, claims of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo killed by Yugoslav forces. On May 16 Defense Secretary William Cohen appeared on Face the Nation and said: “We’ve now seen about 100,000 military-aged men missing….They may have been murdered.” Almost immediately afterward another American official raised that number to 200,000.

The scare tactics worked as NATO’s top military commander, General Wesley Clark, was able to continue daily bombing missions over the small nation months after all targets of military value had been hit, and hit repeatedly. A passenger train, a religious procession, a refugee column, a vacuum cleaner factory, marketplaces, apartment courtyards, the Swiss embassy in Belgrade and the Chinese embassy as well, with three journalists killed and 27 other Chinese injured. Cluster bombs, graphite bombs and depleted uranium ordnance were used widely. No one, not a single individual, has been held accountable for those war crimes. Nor for what should be a war crime and one of the most grave at that: intentionally creating and exaggerating atrocity stories to agitate for and escalate a war. Few Western politicians and journalists would have escaped that charge over their roles in 1999.

When the Yugoslav government of President Slobodan Milosevic was compelled to accede to NATO diktat on June 10, over 200,000 ethnic Serbs, Roma and other minorities left Kosovo with Yugoslav troops, and NATO and its so-called Kosovo Liberation Army cutthroats – for whom and with whom it waged the war – marched into Kosovo. After the latter arrived even more, perhaps a hundred thousand or more, Serbs, Roma, Turks, Jews, Egyptians, Ashkali and members of other ethnic minority communities, along with no few Albanians, fled the province. Numerous Serbs, Roma and Albanian “collaborators” were murdered. (During the air war Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported 100,000 ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo to other parts of Serbia.)

The permanent displacement of hundreds of thousands of non-ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and the expulsion of over a quarter of a million Serbs from Croatia in the early 1990s are the two largest cases of irreversible ethnic cleansing in Europe since World War II. Decades later no one has been held accountable for those crimes either.

Most all of the above has been forgotten if it was ever known. That’s how it was planned. While NATO was celebrating its fiftieth-anniversary jubilee in Washington, D.C. and inducting the first new members since Spain in 1986, and former members of the Warsaw Pact at that – the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland – a high-profile, low-risk war was just the thing to launch new global NATO on the world.

The victim, Yugoslavia, had been mortally wounded; four years later it no longer existed, even on the map. The corpse was expected to rest silently.

But its ghost refuses to disappear. On May 14 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, responding to a comment by his Slovenian counterpart, Borut Pahor, to the effect that there should be no redrawing of borders in Europe, said:

“We have a differing view on Kosovo’s independence. When I hear that, as Pahor says, there are no border changes without conflict, I agree, and that should be clear to all who have been generating conflicts and wanted to change Serbia’s borders.” That is a reference to the West – the US, European Union and NATO – successfully wrenching Kosovo from Serbia in 2008, in violation of the 1999 Kumanovo Agreement. Vucic backed up his contention that national borders should not be arbitrarily or unilaterally changed by stating that only borders recognized by the United Nations are legitimate. However, he said that a contrary practice had been at work since 1999, the result of “the brutal hypocrisy of Western powers that have no principles, or have principles as needed.”

President Vucic was in Prague, the Czech Republic on May 18 and met there with President Miloš Zeman. Zeman was prime minister of the Czech Republic in 1999 when his country joined NATO and the war against Yugoslavia was launched.

The Czech leader’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacec, confirmed that “President Miloš Zeman presented public apologies to President Aleksandar Vucic for the [NATO] bombardments of Yugoslavia in 1999,” and that he “personally asked the Serbian people for forgiveness.”

During the war Prague refused NATO’s warplanes the right to land in Czech territory. Today Zeman himself told the press after his meeting with Serbia’s president:

“We were hopelessly looking for at least one more [NATO] country that would join us and come out against [the bombardments of Yugoslavia]. We remained all alone.” Displaying that rarest of virtues for a politician, penitence, he also said his government should have exercised more resolve in demanding the end of the bombing once it had commenced.

When the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 it was accompanied by Hungary and Poland, fellow members of the Visegrad Four group in Central Europe. The fourth member, Slovakia, was not invited because the party of three-time prime minister Vladimír Meciar was not to the liking of the US, NATO and the EU. The following year Meciar dropped out of politics, with his Movement for a Democratic Slovakia party colleague Augustín Marián Húska disclosing: “The NATO war against Yugoslavia in 1999 was also a signal to us, to not pursue any vision of political independence anymore. We have seen what will happen to forces that want to be independent.”

On May 7 the governments of Serbia and China commemorated the NATO bombing of China’s embassy in Serbia in 1999. Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Dr. Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, head of the Association of Journalists of Serbia Vladimir Radomirovic, Chinese ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo and others laid wreaths in honor of three Chinese journalists killed in the attack.

The Chinese ambassador thanked the Serbian people for keeping alive the memory of the victims who, she said, “paid the price of truth, justice, and righteousness with their lives.

“We will never forget the crime conducted by the aggressor, who most brutally violated the human rights, in the name of the so-called protection of human rights.”

If most of the rest of the world has forgotten NATO’s first war and its bloody emergence on the world stage, China and Serbia have not.

On March 26, to mark the beginning of NATO’s air war against Yugoslavia and Serbia’s Remembrance Day for the Victims of the NATO Aggression, Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated:

“China would like to remind NATO that they still owe a debt of blood to the Chinese people….The dead have passed away, but the living need more vigilance and reflection.”

It’s worth quoting him further as a reminder that the crime of 1999 has indeed haunted not only Europe but the world ever since it was perpetrated; that what is seemingly past is really both prologue and precedent.

“Whether in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya or Syria, we should never forget the lives of ordinary people lost to repeated bombardment, the crumbling walls under the shells, the glorious historical sites consumed by the flames.

“The US and some Western countries have kept their mouths open about human rights and kept their mouths shut about their responsibilities….When they blatantly launched a war against a sovereign country without the Security Council’s authorization, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and the dispersal of millions of people, did they ever care about the human rights of the people in those countries? Is this what they mean by international rules? Shouldn’t they be held accountable for their war actions?”

Those questions, which had they been asked twenty-two years ago might have spared millions of lives in the nations the Chinese diplomat enumerated and others, need to be asked now and with a passion and insistence hitherto absent.

Rick Rozoff is a contributing editor at Antiwar.com. He has been involved in anti-war and anti-interventionist work in various capacities for forty years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. He is the manager of Stop NATO. This originally appeared at Anti-Bellum.

 

theepochtimes.com

China's $1 Billion Sweetheart Road to Nowhere in Montenegro

Anders Corr

11-14 minutes

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Commentary

Montenegro, a tiny Balkan nation of under a million inhabitants and about $5.5 billion in GDP (2019), borrowed $1 billion from China to pay China, to build its first highway, that is now stalled after reaching only 24 percent of its planned length. If that makes your head spin, it's because China is running circles around this poor little country in Europe's southeast. And you know what? That country reminds me of America.

Plans for the 170-kilometer (106-mile) highway include 90 tunnels and 40 bridges, all to be built by a Chinese infrastructure company. Now that Montenegro can't pay back the loan, construction stopped, Europe refused to bail the country out, and clauses in the contract could give China "sovereignty of certain parts of the land," according to a recent investigation by Hans von der Brelie in EuroNews.

The road will be a windfall for land-locked Serbia, as it goes from Montenegro's deepwater port in Bar to the country's border. Serbia frequently takes pro-China positions, and allowed joint military exercises in 2019. The new road could certainly be useful for moving Chinese tanks across Montenegro for the next games. I can see why China and Serbia liked the project.

The Diplomat in April described a Serbian "love affair" with China that includes a major investment from a Chinese tire company that renamed the country's soccer league the "Linglong Tire SuperLiga." Do what you want with our sovereignty, but please at least leave our football alone. Nope. (In Chinese: Bù, 不). Serbians and Montenegrins better learn that word, and quickly. Americans too.

The failing deal with China created a major embarrassment for Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović, who inked the contract. He charged ahead with his own little silk road of asphalt despite advisories against it from France, the United States, the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). There are allegations that Đukanović is a "thief" through his links to the road's subcontractors, who got $400 million "blindfolded," according to a local non-governmental organization.

A lorry driver in the country whose land was expropriated for the project, went on record with EuroNews to say that $100 million was stolen, which is 10 percent of the total loan. This is higher than the 2 to 7 percent finder's fees I heard about for cronies of the Philippine President, who inked similarly useless deals there.

Chinese and illegal workers are allegedly employed on the Montenegro project. The state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) is building the Montenegro highway through a subsidiary. In case of financial problems and the triggering of collateral in the sovereignty of land such as Bar harbor, arbitration would be conducted according to Chinese law in a Chinese court. If so, you can kiss your country goodbye, Montenegro. China's judges will fold it up like the card table on which you lost your Mom's farm.

The construction of the section of a highway connecting the city of Bar on Montenegros Adriatic coast to landlocked neighbor Serbia, (Bar-Boljare highway) near the village of Bioce, north of Montenegrin capital Podgorica, which is being constructed by a state-owned Chinese company, on April 8, 2019. (SAVO PRELEVIC/AFP via Getty Images)

"All over the Western Balkans, Chinese investment has slowed down EU compatible reforms," according to von der Brelie. "China's silk road ambitions are not always in line with EU standards of good governance, environmental protection, rule of law and transparency. Their influence is creating a wedge between the EU and the Balkan states."

Montenegro is the latest example of a long line of such disastrous international infrastructure deals that Beijing brokered, apparently through the corruption of local heads of state. Corruption can be of the legal variety, including through lobbying, crony consulting and subcontractor deals, and campaign contributions.

But Beijing can also try to corrupt through illegal boxes of cash wrapped up like presents. Literally. Two paragraphs from an FBI sentencing document in 2019 are instructive as to how China attempted to corrupt officials in Chad and Uganda. They're worth reprinting in full:

"[Patrick] HO orchestrated and executed two bribery schemes to pay top officials of Chad and Uganda in exchange for business advantages for CEFC China, a Shanghai-based multibillion-dollar conglomerate that operates internationally in multiple sectors, including oil, gas, and banking. At the center of both schemes was HO, the secretary-general of a non-governmental organization based in Hong Kong and Arlington, Virginia, and registered as a charitable entity in the United States, the China Energy Fund Committee ("CEFC NGO"), which held "Special Consultative Status" with the United Nations ("UN") Economic and Social Council. CEFC NGO was funded by CEFC China.

"In the first scheme (the "Chad Scheme"), HO, on behalf of CEFC China, offered a $2 million cash bribe, hidden within gift boxes [Classy!], to Idriss Déby, the president of Chad, in an effort to obtain valuable oil rights from the Chadian government. In the second scheme (the "Uganda Scheme"), HO caused a $500,000 bribe to be paid, via wires transmitted through New York, New York, to an account designated by Sam Kutesa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uganda, who had recently completed his term as the president of the UN General Assembly. HO also schemed to pay a $500,000 cash bribe to Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, and offered to provide both Kutesa and Museveni with additional corrupt benefits by "partnering" with them and their families in future joint ventures in Uganda."

This sort of corruption might explain why President Đukanović went against the advice of the United States, France, and international lenders when he inked the road-to-nowhere deal with China. Beijing's corruption of high government officials is not the exception, according to one of my government sources. It is becoming quite common, but rarely revealed in public.

Milo Đukanović speaks at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring session in Tirana, Albania on May 30, 2016. (Hektor Pustina/AP Photo)

Huawei deals that have been inked around the world are so opaque as to also likely be the result of corruption. Most are in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia. But Beijing's corruption extends into North America and Europe as well, with Montenegro a case in point. The deals will likely be used by Huawei to electronically spy on their clients through signals intelligence (SIGINT). Ironically, combatting China's corruption requires SIGINT of our own. Fight fire with fire.

There's no way to find all of China's global bribery, and combat it effectively, without U.S. and allied SIGINT. The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) admits quite prominently on its website to conducting SIGINT internationally. It's better that the United States and allied agencies do this to control China's bribery of international leaders, before Beijing uses such bribery to construct something far more dangerous than Montenegro's road to nowhere: the world's 5G architecture. China could use its 5G ascendency to hamper U.S. and allied SIGINT, while enabling Chinese SIGINT. Thinking that China's corruption can be stopped without American and allied SIGINT is naive.

Nobody likes being spied upon, but we do like being watched out for. We appreciate our neighbors' security cameras when they deter (or catch) burglars. Neighbors who both have wide-angle security cameras that cover each others' yards are kind of spying on each other. But good neighbors don't obsessively watch their neighbors either. They don't care about the humdrum mowing, weeding, and taking out the trash. They only bother to examine the recordings if there's a burglary.

Likewise, Americans and allies might in part be pointing their SIGINT at each other, and that's okay. Such mutual understanding, where it matters, will keep all of us more honest. You reveal the corruption of my political bosses, and I'll do the same for yours. Or, vice versa. Let's all expose the burglars in our midst.

But because much corruption is legal, more than SIGINT is needed.

The United States and allies must pass legislation, such as that introduced by U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher, a Republican representing Wisconsin's 8th District (home of the Green Bay Packers), to prohibit "any individual from registering or otherwise serving as the agent of a foreign principal if the individual at any time served as a Member of Congress, a senior political appointee, or a general or flag officer of the Armed Forces." Good for young Mike. Go Pack Go!

Unfortunately, Gallagher's bill, H.R. 1522 – Congressional and Executive Foreign Lobbying Ban Act, promptly languished after its introduction in March 2019, and referral to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties in April 2019. Mike, aged 35 two years ago, got schooled.

Corrupt politicians in both parties didn't want the bill passed, so it went nowhere. Maybe that's why the U.S. government and allies fail to publicize China's ubiquitous corruption. They might benefit from that corruption when they leave office. Apparently, the option of corruption is more important to our patriotic congresspersons than good governance. Noted. I love that flag on your lapel. Was it made in China?

Former President Donald Trump promised to clear out the swamp. He called for a five-year cooling off period for former congresspersons to become lobbyists. He signed an executive order to stop the revolving door for his own administration members. At least half the nation inhaled with a renewed feeling of good old American hope. I remember a whiff of apple pie, back then.

But it went nowhere. The E.O. was reportedly unenforced. Trump hired former lobbyists for leadership positions. When his people quit, some went back to lobbying. After James "Mad Dog" Mattis left Trump's employment as Secretary of Defense, he signed onto former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen's consulting group. Cohen has admitted to having clients from China. His group opened a Beijing office in 2006, and one in Tianjin in 2007.

That should be illegal. Shoulda, coulda, woulda.

With our Secretaries of Defense making China-linked money after leaving office, they are vulnerable to quid pro quo corruption while in office. Maybe that's why they haven't converted or defeated China over the past 30 years since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Pretty soon it will be too late, and our military will be unable to defend against the rising red star of Asia.

America the Proud is paralyzed by the corrupting power of money on our politicians, and China is the wealthiest country in the world by GDP purchasing power parity. That means, we're about to get bucked.

A friend of mine recently said, "They're inside the wire." He was referring to China, communism, or both. The phrase keeps haunting me. It means until we fix our own corruption problem, America, Montenegro, and democracy globally, are ultimately defenseless against history's most powerful autocracy. It's like one of those nightmares where you're awake, but can't despite your desperation, move to defend yourself.

Anders Corr has a BA/MA in political science from Yale University (2001) and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a Principal at Corr Analytics Inc., Publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. He authored "The Concentration of Power" (forthcoming 2021) and "No Trespassing," and edited "Great Powers, Grand Strategies."

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

 

b92.net

"Let me say first: I apologize for the bombing"; "Nobody said that, thank you" VIDEO

7-9 minutes

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President of Serbia, who is on a two-day visit to the Czech Republic, addresses the media after the meeting with President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman.

Source: B92 Tuesday, May 18, 2021 | 13:12

Tanjug/AP Photo via CTK/Roman Vondrous SLOVAKIA OUT

At the beginning, the Czech President Miloš Zeman addressed the media, saying that Serbia was a traditional friend of the Czech Republic, which had been betrayed throughout history.

"Serbia expressed its support for us, and we bombed it. Let me immediately say that I apologize for the bombing of the FRY. It was a mistake. As a man, I would ask the Serbian people to forgive us. It bothered me all the time", Zeman said.

As he explained, the Czech Republic was a young NATO member at a time and was looking for a way to prevent the NATO bombing, but it did not have support.

"We asked for consent and desperately looked for at least one country to be against the bombing, but we were left alone. It was still a lack of courage," Zeman said.

"There, I said it and I saved my soul, and now let me move on to what we talked about," Zeman said.

Zeman said that he talked with Vučić about the successful development of economic cooperation, as well as about the attitudes of the two countries regarding international relations, and he especially emphasized Serbia's ability to establish friendly or correct relations with all important countries.

Zeman also praised the rapid progress of vaccination in Serbia, which, as he said, is related to the fact that Serbia has acquired vaccines from several countries. "I highly appreciate this visit, and I gladly remember my visit to Belgrade, and I hope that I will take another look at that city just before the end of my term," Zeman said.

Due to his poor health, President Zeman was in a wheelchair, but he found the strength to get up and greet Vučić, expressing his respect and friendship.

After Zeman, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, also addressed the media, thanking Zeman for his words of support and apology for the NATO bombing of the FRY.

"I know that it is not popular to talk about traditional and sincere friendship, but what I experienced today here in Prague and the hospitality that Serbia received here, and what you have prepared for us, it is something that touched me deeply," Vucic said at the beginning of his address.

"The words of President Zeman, a brave man with a unique character, who does not flatter anyone, mean a lot to me... I witnessed how much respected he is and I am a little envious, I want to thank him for these wonderful words he sent to Serbia. The Serbian people perceive the Czech people not as friendly, but as fraternal nation", he added.

"I am known for not flattering anyone, not only because I weigh 120 kilos, but also because I have a bad temper... We will be eternally grateful because what the Czech President said now is something that has never been said by anyone else and that gratitude will never stop," the President of Serbia, who also announced Zeman's visit to Serbia, pointed out.

Vučić also thanked Zeman for the Czech Republic's support for Serbia's EU accession.

"Zeman will visit Serbia before the end of the year, because he promised it. And I promised that Serbia would solve a complicated property problem and that we would give the Czech house from 1928 to the Czech Republic. And I expect him at the opening," Vucic said.

He added that members of the Czech minority live mostly in South Banat and represent the real wealth of Serbia, and that is why he wants them to be able to have their own house, which belonged to them and was confiscated in the 1960s.

Also, Vučić thanked Zeman for the order he awarded him. "For me, this means a great honor. First, I awarded him a medal, which he deserved many times, and what I wear today on the lapel of my jacket presents an additional commitment for me to fight for Serbian-Czech friendship, to work as much as possible. "And you have my promise for that," said Vucic.

He added that it is wonderful to be a Serb in Prague today, and that Serbia will never forget Zeman's words.

https://youtu.be/_9Mhq_paLFE  @ 28:00 minute

budapesttimes.hu

Keeping the Danube shipshape: how blue, and green, is it? | The Budapest Times

Written by Alexander Stemp

9-11 minutes

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Much has been said about the illustrious River Danube and all its splendour in chronicles and popular culture alike. But beyond the flotillas of over-told stories, tourist puns and endless clichés, there is the less obvious managing of the extensive waterway that must take place for the benefit of everyone, including composer Strauss to preserve the legacy of his spirited “Blue Danube”. The immensity of this operation requires continual maintenance from various organisations, before tourism is even considered.

The Danube has always been a vital Black Forest to Black Sea trade link, with Budapest en route. A total 2415 kilometres of its overall 2850 kilometres length is navigable. Remarkably, the Black Sea today also links up with the North Sea, via the 170-kilometre Rhine-Main-Danube Canal that connects Kelheim and Bamberg in Germany. Since the canal’s completion in 1992, both the Danube and Rhine are now part of a trans-European waterway from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Sulina in Romania, with 3500 kilometres in between. Theoretically, one could “sail” from London to Kyiv without halt via these two seas and the River Dnieper.

This international passage, which wends through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, is only navigable for most large ocean ships from the Black Sea for the first 170 kilometres inland, to Braila, east Romania. Then it’s all change for the millions of tonnes of cargo as smaller craft take over to continue upstream until completion of voyage. Spectacular sights line the way, in particular the Kazan Straits where Romania joins Serbia, Belgrade, Budapest, the Danube Bend in Hungary, Bratislava, Vienna, Linz and many more.

Apart from a few minor and secondary routes leading away from the Danube, the only major navigable rivers that link up to it are the Drava and the Tisza, which both also feature in Hungary, and the Sava, which joins to the world-famous river in Belgrade.

There are 46 ports of international importance along the entire way, as well as some minor ones. Port-sides in Hungary alongside the Duna, as it is known by the locals, include Győr-Gönyű, Komárom, Dunaújváros, Dunaföldvár, Baja and Mohács. There is also the Szabadkikötő dockland at Csepel Island, south of the capital. Large-scale vessels up to 110 metres long and 12 metres wide can occasionally pass through.

To achieve a sufficient navigational system, the Danube Commission was established in Belgrade in 1948 to provide, develop and ensure smooth running, general efficiency and free-flowing navigation. The commission was set up by seven countries (then) bordering the Danube. Members today are representatives from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Serbia.

The organisation’s aim is to continually improve navigational conditions and provide forecast information for all crews alike. In addition to the regulations, the commission promotes good economic and cultural relations between all the member states, as well as with other countries. Since 1954 this authority has been based in Budapest. Its official languages are German, Russian and French, as clearly cited at its front entrance on Benczúr utca in District VI.

Then there is the International Commission of Protection of the Danube River, based in Vienna. It works more with environmental issues that clearly relate to today’s values. Other organisations also provide solutions and assistance towards general maintenance, safety and all-round improvements to the river itself, the shorelines and anything related to a better balance of nature, including tackling dangerous waste and general pollution.

Water depth “allowance” must be considered, as occasional limitations for each ship have to be recognised before sailing. Weather conditions and high or low water levels frequently vary. Then there are the occasional floods, unexpected rocks, ice and underwater currents that have to be worked around. Climate change means continually adapting to new conditions. There may be less snow and heavy ice on the river these days but springs and autumns are significantly shorter than before and summers are hotter and longer.

All this comes before the final compromise that must be made about how much cargo is allowed on board to balance out these delicate proportions, and prevent any vessel from either drifting, getting stuck, overturning or so forth (remember the recent Suez Canal blocking). Regardless of actual weather and general water quantity, for a quick referral, the minimum recommended safety requirement for depth of water beneath any large cargo ship is 2.5 metres to avoid all possible obstacles.

For the future, it’s a priority to modernise the Danube fleet towards eventual zero emissions, part of greening ships and harbours to meet modern-day standards and overcome environmental concerns. Currently, the coronavirus pandemic has placed many rivers at a critical crossroads with having to adapt to new challenges.

Consider also inland relations, transnational cross-border co-operation and loading on and off. Port hinterlands, especially roads and railways, must enable effective transit of goods for the next stages. As for the administrative side of things, updated and approved travel documents and Customs clearance forms must be provided, plus much more. Crews and workforces need to be organised.

When it comes to supporting Danube tourism projects, the scope is enormous. Benefits can be assured, provided anything “new” will be sustainable. There is no shortage of attractions for active and passive holidaymakers alike, with plenty of national parks along the river as well as many on -the-spot leisure vessels, in particular the very busy Budapest-Szentendre-Esztergom-Vienna service that operates daily.

The Danube delta, known as the Delta Dunării by Romanians, is the largest river delta in the European Union and is spectacular. The greater part of this unique biosphere reserve lies in Romania and is accessible for ships and general traffic alike at Tulcea. Its smaller, northern part is situated by the southern Ukraine borderline. Both parts are the last downstream stop before the Black Sea.

The delta is about 4000 square kilometres, home to an abundance of wildlife. This impressive expanse of water, islands and reeds from Tulcea directly to the Black Sea itself became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991 and is very much worth a visit.

The lakes and marshes host innumerable freshwater fish species. The wetlands support vast flocks of migratory birds with over 300 species, including the symbolic storks and pelicans. Fishermen are still active at certain points. However, there have been mismanaged mishaps when some of the river’s resources and various old-style infrastructure has been managed in an environmentally damaging way.

In recent generations, still within living memory, there have been alterations to the channel relating to various newish developments in order to promote tourism. Large hydropower dams are now in place along the river and its tributaries, to which the basin has to adapt regardless of all else.

The largest hydropower dam and reservoir system along the Danube is found at the 117-kilometre-long Djerdap Gorge. This peak operation system consists of two dams, Iron Gate I and II operated jointly by Serbia and Romania, producing about 37 percent of the total energy used in Serbia and 27 percent in Romania.

Although impressive, these spelt misfortune for the fish populations, and the possibility of constructing a “fish pass” to enable migration is under review. Downstream from there, much is free-flowing all the way. The views are splendid and tourism in this region flourishes. While the Danube region is of high importance for tourism, as well as shipping, the vulnerabilities remain the same.

Recent times have seen new infrastructure relating to cycling and hiking put in place. For a splendid glimpse of high scenery near Budapest I highly recommend visiting, preferably by bike, both sides of the Danube Bend. This immediate area, with Nagymaros, Visegrád Castle, Esztergom, Szob and the Dömösi peaks, is a wonder and splendour in every sense, epitomising the “Blue Danube” more so than anywhere else I can think of. You will see. After spending years here in Hungary, it is always a pleasure for me to look out onto this river from anywhere, at any time of year, and to really appreciate its momentous worth.

But as we “depend” on this and other areas to provide a great day out, so the Danube, its Bend and elsewhere also depend on us to look after and preserve it too.

If an extravagant river cruise is out of reach, then to see and appreciate this waterway up close take to the Danube Bike Trail, which proceeds along the entire length. It’s 1700 kilometres from the Hungarian capital to the Black Sea and Romanian Riviera along this lane. However, it’s not so far and perhaps less demanding to cycle in the other direction towards southern Germany.

To cycle the entirety, 50 kilometres on average would be required every day for two months. This I would love to do. But until I get the go-ahead from my family, continual cycling around the immediate shorelines and ships will have to suffice just as well.