International Danube Day was celebrated in Moldova

Traditionally, it is celebrated on June 29, but this year it changed to June 30 as the day before was declared by a national day of mourning in memory of well-known poet Dumitru Matcovski.

The public event "International Danube Day" was organized this year in the village of Giurgiulesti , Cahul district, and involved local communities, central and local authorities, NGOs and various experts. Different actions were organized within the project "A new life for Prut River" - charity project supported and promoted by the Bessarabian origin violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja through Naturton Foundation and the Global Fund for Wildlife (WWF) from Germany in cooperation with Ecological Counseling Centre from Cahul (ECC), Moldova .

The "A new life for Prut River" project overall goal is to contribute to conservation of natural resources and sustainable development of local communities living in the Lower Prut area. During the event, organizers presented awards to winners of the drawing contest "Lower Danube and Prut" and to winners of questions contest for students entitled "Do we know Danube and Prut". The ethno-folk band "Giurgiuleanca" joined the event and many visitors present there were able to see an exhibition of works by craftsmen along with local traditional fish dishes.

International Danube Day was marked for the first time in 1994 at the initiative of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. The main objective of event is to involve citizens in many Danube countries in joint or independent activities, which might be held nationally, regionally or internationally.