Democracy Digest: Danube Falls to Lowest Levels in 30 Years

The Danube, which runs through 10 countries from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea, has fallen to its lowest levels in around 30 years, disrupting cargo and passenger shipping and forcing cruise operators to change routes along one of Europe’s most important waterways. In Budapest, the national water authority measured the Danube’s water level at 23 centimetres on Wednesday morning, well below the previous all-time low of 33 centimetres set in 2018. The river level in Bratislava dropped to around 214 centimetres earlier this week. Hydrological forecasts indicate that it could fall further in the coming days. The decline is linked to prolonged dry weather and high temperatures affecting much of Central Europe, including areas in Germany and Austria where important parts of the Danube’s water supply originate. According to the Hungarian Meteorological Service, 90-day precipitation levels are down 80-130 millimetres across almost the entire country compared with multi-year averages. The low water levels are already preventing some larger vessels from passing certain sections of the river. Ships with deeper draughts have had to remain in ports or at anchorage until water levels improve. The situation has also affected international river cruises. Tourists travelling from Germany and Austria to Budapest have had their itineraries changed, with some continuing their journeys by bus. Low water has also affected smaller tourist boats. Some sightseeing cruises from Bratislava, including trips to Devin Castle, have been cancelled because vessels cannot safely dock at the local pontoon. Other local routes are operating with restrictions. To manage the situation, Slovak authorities have adjusted the operation of the navigation locks at the Gabcikovo waterworks. Ships are being processed in scheduled cycles to reduce water losses while maintaining safe navigation. Each opening of a navigation chamber lowers the water level above the dam by approximately 1 centimetre, they said.Polish PM Donald Tusk attends a press conference in Tarnawa-Kolonia village, eastern Poland, 30 July 2026. EPA/WOJTEK JARGILO Suspected Russian missile lands in Poland; extradition of former justice minister sought A cruise missile crossed into eastern Poland early on Thursday, striking a field and apparently exploding on impact, during another large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine. Poland’s Operational Command said radar detected an unidentified object moving west at 03:40 and dispatched an F-16 to identify and intercept it. Six minutes later, the object disappeared from radar. A Mi-24 helicopter traced its probable impact point to an uninhabited area near Tarnawa-Kolonia in Lublin province. Police arriving at the site found fragments spread around a crater approximately 10 metres across, some 2 kilometres from the nearest homes. No one was injured and no buildings were damaged. The area was checked for explosive and radiological hazards before investigators began examining it. Speaking to reporters, PM Donald Tusk said the preliminary evidence pointed to a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, but stressed that this still had to be confirmed. He said there was no reason to believe Poland had been the intended target, and that Polish forces were prepared to shoot the missile down had it continued flying. “This war is full of surprises, and we must learn very quickly from new situations and possible new threats,” Tusk said. “For now, the reports – particularly the military ones – indicate that everything worked as it should.” Maksymilian Dura, a retired naval commander and Defence24 expert, said it was possible that the Russians had deliberately directed the missile over Poland. “Given Russia’s desperation and the difficult situation it is now in, they may simply be probing us. Such incidents will happen again,” he told PAP. The episode adds to a growing record of the war crossing Poland’s border. In September 2025, 19 Russian drones entered Polish airspace in a single night, prompting allied NATO aircraft to intervene. Poland this week formally requested the US detain and extradite former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is wanted over alleged abuses of the Justice Fund under the previous Law and Justice government. Spokeswoman for the National Prosecutor’s Office Anna Adamiak said the request, submitted through diplomatic channels on Monday, covers 19 of the 26 offences prosecutors have attributed to Ziobro. Prosecutors accuse him of directing a criminal group, exceeding his powers and steering grants towards selected organisations. Ziobro, in the US since May, has not been questioned in the investigation and denies fleeing Poland. He had previously received protection in Hungary, but the new government there later withdrew his refugee status and invalidated his travel documents. The US Justice Department will first assess whether Poland’s request meets the treaty’s formal requirements. A federal judge would then rule on whether extradition is legally permissible, before the final decision passes to the US secretary of state. Polish prosecutors say the process could take anywhere from several months to several years. Responding on X, the former justice minister said he trusted the independence of American institutions and expected them to examine what he called the case’s political context. “Donald Tusk, Adam Bodnar and Waldemar Zurek repeatedly publicly prejudged my guilt before any independent court had examined the case,” he claimed. Hungarian PM Peter Magyar responds to a speech ahead of the agenda at parliament’s extraordinary session in Budapest, Hungary, 28 July 2026. EPA/Zsolt Szigetvary Hungary sets up agency to recover assets stolen under previous government In Hungary, Peter Magyar’s new government continued its campaign pledge to recover assets dubiously diverted towards allies and relatives of Viktor Orban during his 16 years in power. On Wednesday, the acting president, Agnes Forsthoffer, announced on Facebook that, after checking its constitutionality, she had signed into law the legislation to establish the National Agency for the Recovery and Protection of Assets (NVVH), which will be responsible for uncovering abuse involving public assets, facilitating the recovery of unlawfully acquired assets, and preventing the recurrence of such cases in the future, according to Telex.hu. “Without uncovering the systemic abuses that have taken place over the past decades, it is impossible to establish the transparent and accountable operations of the state, which is necessary for restoring public trust. Under the law, uncovering the past misappropriation of public assets is a prerequisite for rebuilding democracy,” she said. The agency is accountable to parliament and will operate independently of the government. Hungary was regularly cited as the most corrupt country in the EU under Orban, with the head of the country’s anti-graft Integrity Authority claiming recently that entrenched corruption likely cost Hungary about 60 trillion forints (about 165 billion euros) over the past 16 years. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini (R) wave at children during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 28 July 2026. EPA/Achmad Ibrahim / POOL Slovak president fawns over Chinese tech on visit to Beijing Slovak President Peter Pellegrini used this week’s state visit to China to advocate closer cooperation in technology, research and higher education, despite warnings from the country’s intelligence service and the EU about security risks posed by some Chinese companies. During a visit to Beijing’s Robot Mall innovation centre, Pellegrini said Slovakia should look for ways to introduce Chinese tech into everyday practice ‘as quickly as possible’. He also announced that upon returning home, he would ask Education Minister Tomas Drucker to send a delegation to China to develop cooperation among universities and research institutes. Pellegrini said he wanted more Slovak and Chinese students to study in each other’s countries. The comments came after meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, during which Pellegrini sought to deepen economic ties and encourage further Chinese investment in Slovakia. He also invited Xi to visit Slovakia during his next trip to Europe. Pellegrini’s remarks on using more Chinese tech triggered criticism from experts and the opposition, who argued that they ignored security concerns surrounding Chinese tech providers. Slovakia’s SIS intelligence agency has repeatedly warned about the risks posed by some Chinese telecom, surveillance and digital tech companies, while the EU is encouraging member states to reduce strategic dependencies in critical sectors rather than deepen them. Following the criticism, the president’s office said Slovakia would only adopt tech that meet the country’s security requirements, regardless of where they are produced. Anti-immigration billboard poster for the Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) Tomio Okamura, Czech Republic. Photo: X / @Vit_Rakusan Czechs warn of online youth radicalisation; parliament approves parental benefits boost The Czech Interior Ministry identified the growing radicalisation of youth on the internet as the main threat in its annual report on extremism, while noting the decline of the influence of more traditional extremist movements. According to the report, which looks at the evolution and occurrences of extremist and radical activities over the past year, Czechia’s traditional anti-system scene has been losing both influence and visibility, while far-right movements did not pose a significant security risk and the extreme-left also remained largely inconspicuous. The main threat, according to authorities, comes from people radicalising outside of mainstream extremist structures, mostly online, and spreading extremist content increasingly with the help of AI tools. The first of its kind published under the new government led by PM Andrej Babis, the Interior Ministry’s annual report sparked controversy for failing to even mention the far-right SPD party – a junior coalition partner – whose leader and now speaker of the House, Tomio Okamura, was indicted last year for hate speech and incitement to racial hatred linked to a controversial billboard campaign. Following in the footsteps of the Chamber of Deputies’ approval, the opposition-controlled Senate this week also passed a draft bill to increase parental benefits from 350,000 to 400,000 crowns (about 16,500 euros) starting next year. The bill now heads to President Petr Pavel for his signature. Parents of twins, triplets and more will be able to claim double that amount for any child born from January 1, 2027 onwards. Senators also called on the government to prepare another amendment introducing the automatic inflation-based valorisation of parental allowances – a measure the lower house of parliament rejected earlier this year. The rise in parental benefit – which follows another increase approved less than three years ago with little apparent demographic impact – has been described as key to the government’s pledge to increase support for families in a bid to boost the falling birth rate. After plummeting to an all-time record low in 2025 with less than 80,000 live births, Czechia’s birth rate continued to drop in the first quarter of this year, according to preliminary data. Experts estimate that fewer than 73,000 children could be born this year. The Czech Army is planning on defence spending exceeding 2 per cent of GDP when preparing its 2027 budget, the new Chief of the General Staff Miroslav Hlavac said this week – a statement in line with the government’s pledge to reach, after years of falling short, NATO’s defence spending requirements next year. Czechia has faced criticism from the US and other allies for being one of the few to spend less than 2 per cent on defence last year, with PM Babis recently confirming that the country will again fall short in 2026. “Last year in The Hague, the Czech Republic committed to presenting a credible trajectory of defence spending of up to 3.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent for related spending by 2035. The Czech Republic has still not presented this credible trajectory,” criticised Pavel Fischer, an opposition MP and chairman of the Senate’s foreign affairs, defence and security committee.