Romania–Ukraine border

By the end of the year, Romania will receive a maritime minesweeper from Great Britain, with which it will join the joint initiative with Bulgaria and Turkey to search for mines in the Black Sea.

This was announced in an interview with "Digi 24" TV by the Minister of Defense Angel Tilvar, who is visiting the USA together with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

After more than two weeks stuck in a Black Sea traffic jam of cargo ships waiting their turn to enter the Danube River delta to pick up Ukrainian grain, the Egyptian seamen finally reached solid ground last weekend and replenished their diminishing stock of fresh water and food.

The prospect of rising tensions in the Black Sea after Washington's claim that a Russian fighter jet downed a US surveillance drone near Crimea is naturally a cause of major concern. Most observers have so far focused on eastern Ukraine. However, not far from there, dark clouds are gathering from the Carpathians to the Caucasus and from the Sea of Azov to the Bosporus Strait.

Ukraine's deepening of a canal in the Danube Delta to boost exports is fuelling political tensions in Romania.

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Ukraine hopes to export 500,000 tons of grain per month through the Danube after the liberation of Snake Island

In a surprising event, grouper, an endangered marine species rarely observed in its prime habitat areas such as the Mediterranean Sea, has been spotted off Turkey's Black Sea coast for the very first time.

Low levels of the Danube hinder shipping along the Bulgarian section of the river.

The situation is the most critical in the area of Belene and near Svishtov.

The Maritime Administration Executive Agency announced that navigation regime through the critical Danube sections has been introduced, which indicates where it is safe to go through.

With a 1.1 billion euro budget from European funds, the Danube Delta has become in recent years Romania's largest investment project, shows a Sierra Quadrant expert analysis released on Monday.

A project dedicated to the river Danube evaluates three types of scenarios to identify in view of restoration naturally floodable areas of the river and its main tributaries, the Romanian Waters National Adminisration (ANAR) informs, on the occasion of the International Danube Day, marked each year, on June 29.

Booking rates for tourist accommodation establishments in the Danube Delta for the Easter mini-holiday is up to 95%, but some economic agents, especially those whose incomes depended on foreign tourism, claim that, although theoretically they are 100% booked, they practically cannot carry out their activity.