Danube

The increasing levels of Danube river will not affect shipping, however some of the quays are at risk of being flooded, Bulgaria's Transport Minister Danail Papazov said, Tuesday.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Monday that Romania is to offer food, blankets and water to people in neighbouring Serbia and to Bosnia and Herzegovina in an effort to help flood victims.

Bucharest is also to send anti-flood pumps to the affected areas.

The town of Smederevska Palanka on the river Danube has been enveloped by water on all sides, with aerial photographs showing the roofs of houses poking out from the flood-borne lake.

The level of the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube river continues to rise and   flooded a fishing village near Ruse. 

According to the Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube, the level at Ruse rose by half a meter overnight and passed the 7-meter mark. 

The water level of the Danube River near Bulgaria's Lom rose by 54 centimeters over the past 24 hours to 824 centimeters, causing the lowest sections of the port to get flooded.

Work continues only in the high berths of the port complex, while the activities at the other ones have been stopped and power supply has been cut, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

The level of the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube river continues to rise, reports the Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube. 

According to it, the river levels have already reached six meters in Ruse and is expected to continue to rise, due to the high waters coming from Serbia. 

BELGRADE - Hydropower plant Djerdap is implementing all the necessary measures and discharging water on the biggest power plant on the Danube River to reduce the water level downstream from Belgrade.

Bulgarian border police authorities seized 55 kilograms of heroin on the Danube Bridge, at the crossing point leading out of the country.

In a joint operation of Ruse's customs unit and the Border Police, officials found the drug divided into fifty separate packages in a lorry with an international license plate, according to reports by the Bulgarian National Radio.

Bucharest city council has approved plans to turn a natural delta in the south of the capital into a nature park and a recreational area.

The park, known as the “Delta between the blocks”, covers around 200 hectares, including some 80 hectares of water, in the middle of Bucharest.

EU funds to help restore ancient Danube fortress

BELGRADE -- An agreement on a project to renovate the Golubac Fortress as part of the Danube Strategy in Serbia was signed at the government HQ in Belgrade on Tuesday.

The EU delegation has earmarked funds amounting to around EUR 6.6 million, with works expected to start in July, ending in 2016.