Save the Blue Danube
by Bela Liptak

In September 1997, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague issued a ruling on the world's first international environmental lawsuit. The ICJ (a.k.a. the World Court) found it was illegal for Slovakia to reroute the Danube River into a Slovakian canal in 1992 as part of a multi-billion dollar Danube hydroelectric development project.

The ICJ ordered Hungary and Slovakia to settle their dispute regarding the project's future and financing. If they don't settle, the ICJ will impose its own settlement. The danger is that Hungary and Slovakia will reach an out-of-court settlement.

When the lawsuit started, Hungary was ruled by a progressive, environmentally sensitive government. But that party lost the elections in 1994 to the MSZP, the former Communist Party. The new government in Hungary favors the project's construction.

Environmental stakes in this case are high: The wetlands involved are the remains of the only inland delta in Europe. This delta has survived since the last Ice Age, when the Pannon Sea filled the Carpathian Basin. Some 400 unique species have survived from that time. Today, in the Szigetkoz ("the region of a thousand islands" in Hungarian), not a single island remains. Since the rerouting, there is no water.

If things are left to the two negotiating parties, construction will destroy this beautiful and unique wetland. The only hope for this historic stretch of the Danube is that the out-of-court settlement does not take place, and the case is returned to the ICJ for final ruling. The international environmental community can help achieve that goal.

An election is coming up in Hungary in April. The MSZP doesn't stand a chance of winning. Therefore, their strategy is to settle with Slovakia before the election and approve the deal in the Hungarian Parliament while they still have a slim majority.

Nine international and human rights NGOs have prepared a detailed solution that would satisfy the desires of all parties. This Compromise Plan would return the Danube to its natural course and provide for a seismic redesign and winter shipping canal at the Gabcikovo Dam.

Hungary would regain its border river, the Szigetkoz wetlands and drinking water supplies. Slovakia would receive all the electricity generated at Gabcikovo Dam during high water conditions. The European Community would benefit from reliable year-'round shipping through both the Gabcikovo canal and through the restored Danube riverbed.

The US, by supporting World Bank financing on a similar scale as is taking place today in the Danube Delta of the Black Sea, would demonstrate that a just and non-violent international solution is feasible and a permanent solution possible, with an investment equivalent to the cost of a few weeks' peace-keeping in Bosnia.

Our job is convincing MSZP deputies to change their votes by appealing to their decency, pride and common sense. Solidarity from foreign environmentalists will help a great deal. For more details on the Compromise Plan to save the Danube, visit our website at: www.goodpoint.com/duna.htm.

Bela Liptak [84 Old N. Stamford Road, Stamford, CT 06905-3961, (203) 357-7614, Fax: 325-3922, liptakbela@aol.com] is the editor of the "Environmental Engineers' Handbook" and president of the Foundation to Protect the Hungarian Environment.