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VIENNA, 16 December 2025 – The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) proudly announced the winners of the 2025 Danube Art Master competition during its 28th Ordinary Meeting, held 11-12 December at the Vienna International Centre.

VIENNA, 11 December (Diplomatic Academy of Vienna) – Ukraine will take over the Presidency of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) in January 2026. Mariia Shpanchyk, Head of the Department of Water Management at the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine, will serve as its new President for one year. The annual transition in leadership reflects the ICPDR’s ongoing dedication to successful transboundary water management.

The ICPDR is pleased to share a first glimpse into the microbiological findings emerging from the Joint Danube Survey 5 (JDS5) — the world’s largest river basin monitoring programme carried out on a single river system. While full results will only be available once all samples from the 108 sampling sites have been analysed, early data from the microbiology component show encouraging trends across the entire Danube Basin.

The European Commission proposes to cut the use of chemical pesticides in half by 2030, one of the flagship legislative proposals to follow the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies. The new rules on chemical pesticides will reduce the environmental footprint of the EU's food system, protect the health and well-being of citizens and agricultural workers, and help mitigate the pesticide use-related economic losses.

As the climate crisis worsens, severe droughts devastate European landscapes. According to the data published by the European Drought Observatory, more than 60% of land in the European Union and United Kingdom – an area nearly the same size as India (!) – is now affected by drought conditions. The Danube River Basin and the Danube itself have been affected by serious droughts in the past, e.g., in 2003, 2015, and now again one of the most feared natural phenomenon has gripped much of the Danube River Basin.