Balkan River Summit 2024 held in Podgorica

Balkan River Summit was held in Podgorica from September 29 to October 3. More than one hundred river conservation experts, scientists, and activists got together to highlight the importance of rivers in the region, express opposition to dam construction. They called on the authorities and corporations to stop repression against environmental defenders.

The Balkan River Summit is part of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign. Samit was held by the organization for environmental protection EuroNatur and Riverwatch the Montenegrin Ecologists Society and the Save Komarnica initiative. For more than one decade, EuroNatur and Riverwatch have worked with Balkan partners to protect rivers of high natural value in the Balkans, under threat mostly from hydropower projects.

This year’s summit’s theme was Standing United. The organizations said the slogan is more crucial than ever, arguing that not only rivers are under attack, but so are the people defending them.

Environmental activists in the Balkans have been subjected to systematic intimidation, including legal harassment, media smear campaigns, and physical threats. Some of them were detained because they advocated for the protection of nature.

Huber: We must unite for our rivers and ensure that both nature and the defenders of these ecosystems are safeguarded from harm

In response, attendees signed a joint statement, urging national governments, regional authorities, and corporations to cease the harassment of environmental defenders and respect their fundamental rights.

“It’s vital that we unite for our rivers and ensure that nature and the defenders of these ecosystems are safeguarded from harm. By standing together, we send a strong message that these precious ecosystems, and the people fighting for them, deserve the highest level of protection,” said Amelie Huber from EuroNatur, the lead organizer of the event.

In a video address, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst encouraged participants to report cases of harassment, showing his support for those fighting on the front lines of environmental protection.

Keep rivers wild

The river protection community represented its unity at a public kayak flotilla, where the slogan Keep Rivers Wild floated across the Morača river.

The action aimed to attract attention at the national level and to stress the risks affecting the rivers in Montenegro.

“Hosting the Balkan River Summit 2024 here in Montenegro gives us the opportunity to draw attention to our national river issues and call on our government to take stronger action in protecting these vital ecosystems,” said Jelena Popović from CDE.

Ulrich Eichelmann from Riverwatch asserted that the rivers of the Balkans are natural jewels of the whole of Europe, underscoring that their fate as well as of the future of the Europe we want to live in, depend on the struggle for their protection.