Romanian Foreign minister Petre Roman yesterday swam two kilometres on the Danube, side by side with Slovenian Martin Strel, who left the river’s springs near Donaueschingen-Germany on June 25 and hopes to reach Sulina by August 24, swimming across the 2,860 kilometres of the river.
Strel wishes thus to draw the international community’s attention on the freedom of navigation on the Danube, obstructed after the war in Kosovo. The Slovenian swimmer also draws attention on the danger posed by river pollution.
Petre Roman stated that the gesture to accompany Strel came from the belief that “the freedom of navigation on the Danube is a right that had belonged to us for thousands of years,” and has to be taken back.
“This is yet another way to draw attention on an issue that burdens us,” he added, reminding that Romania suffers significant losses due to Yugoslavia’s refusal to unlock the river following the war in Kosovo.
Speaking about Milosevic’s ruling, Roman stated that the Yugoslavian President should be reminded that “he is not on his own.”
In his opinion, “the net is tightening” around the Belgrade leader, and pressures exerted so far would soon bear fruits. Roman also recalled that “not long ago one could drink water of the Danube,” and consequently we have to return to this state of facts in order “to leave clean water to our successors.”
Although its water is not drinkable, the Danube is not a polluted river, Roman believes. If it was polluted with cyanides several months ago, this was not the fault of the Romanian state, but of a certain company, and at any rate “pollution is not remanent,” Roman stated.