Russia exiled from key European shipping body due to attacks on Danube ports
At its 100th session, the Danube Commission decided that Russia should leave the organization by February 29, 2024, reported the press service of the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development.
This decision is a consequence of the missile and drone attacks carried out by the Russians along the Lower Danube in Ukraine, the ministry explains.
If Russia does not withdraw from the organization within the set deadline, the member states of the Commission will no longer have any obligations towards Russia under the Belgrade Convention.
In March 2022, the Danube Commission suspended the powers of representatives of Russia and excluded them from the Commission's secretariat.
"The attacks of the Russians on the Ukrainian port infrastructure of the Danube cannot go unanswered. Such actions of the aggressor endanger not only the safety of shipping on the Danube, but also threaten famine in the whole world. Russia should not have the right to vote in any international organization," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov commented on the decision.
The Danube Commission is an international intergovernmental organization created within the framework of the Convention concerning the Regime of Navigation on the Danube, which was signed in Belgrade on August 18, 1948. After the termination of Russia's membership, the Commission will include Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Croatia.
The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs called Russia's attacks on the ports on the Danube war crimes.
