THE GDANSK–GALAȚI WATERWAY AND ITS GEOSTRATEGIC, GEOPOLITICAL AND GEOECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS FOR ROMANIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
THE GDANSK–GALAȚI WATERWAY AND ITS GEOSTRATEGIC, GEOPOLITICAL AND GEOECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS FOR ROMANIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Author(s): Florentina Chirodea, Ioana Lucia Bordeianu
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Economy, Geography, Regional studies, Regional Geography, International relations/trade, Geopolitics
Published by: Editura Universităţii Vasile Goldiş
Keywords: Gdansk-Galati navigable canal, Romania; European Union' challenges; opportunities
Summary/Abstract: The Gdansk-Galați waterway project is a logistics infrastructure initiative with far-reaching geostrategic, geopolitical and geoeconomic implications for the entire region of Eastern Europe. This ambitious project aims to create an inland waterway linking the port of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea in Poland to the seaport of Galați in Romania on the Danube river, creating a continuous north-south transport corridor through the heart of Europe. The successful completion of this waterway could open up significant economic opportunities for Romania and Poland, two Member States of the European Union, as well as for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, two countries with which the EU has opened accession negotiations. The project provides the logistical framework for facilitating the growth of Euro-Asian trade flows and attracting foreign investment in the area between the Baltic and Black Seas, while promoting regional integration and cohesion. The waterways of Central and Eastern Europe have been used as routes for trade and cultural exchange since the 19th century, but their economic potential has been limited by navigation constraints and regional geopolitical and geostrategic factors. In addition to the inland waterway projects promoted by the European Commission through the NAIADES Action Programme, the Gdansk-Galați waterway aims to overcome these limitations by integrating the Vistula, Dniester, Prut and Danube rivers into an extensive, accessible and efficient transport network. The study aims to identify the opportunities and challenges that this waterway poses for Romania and, implicitly, for the European Union from a geostrategic, geopolitical and geoeconomic perspective.

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