Romanian, Serbian and Hungarian boats and divers conduct joint manoeuvres on the Danube

A multinational exercise, BLUE DANUBE 2026, was held on the Danube near the Romanian port of Calafat, bringing together military units from Romania, Serbia and Hungary. The exercise was aimed at strengthening cooperation between forces responsible for security on inland waterways.

According to the Romanian Navy, more than 160 servicemen took part in the manoeuvres. The participating countries deployed seven ships, four boats and two unmanned systems. The Romanian River Flotilla was represented by the monitor 46 Ion C. Brătianu and the armoured boat 179 Posada from the 67th Artillery Ships Division.

The Pontica Maritime Logistics Base also deployed river tug 328 from the 325th Logistics Support Section in Tulcea. The 39th Diving Centre provided a boat with a team of river engineering divers, while the Timișoara Territorial Inspectorate of the Border Police took part with the river patrol boat MAI 3060.

The Serbian Armed Forces were represented by three military vessels, three boats and one unmanned system, while Hungary sent military personnel to the exercise command post. This format underlines the practical nature of cooperation: on the Danube, it is not only the patrol or operational capacities of individual states that matter, but also their ability to coordinate rapidly in a shared river space.

Over several days, ship crews and diving units from the participating countries practised realistic scenarios on and under the water. These included manoeuvring, search and rescue operations, stopping suspicious vessels, repairing malfunctions and damage, and towing ships.

Such coordination is particularly important for the Danube as an international transport artery, where navigation safety, border control, emergency response and the protection of critical infrastructure are closely interconnected.

IDR comment

The Institute of Danube Research notes that BLUE DANUBE 2026 reflects the growing attention of regional states to the security of the Danube not only as a transport corridor, but also as a strategic space for cooperation.

“Today, the Danube is not merely a river route. It is an infrastructural, security and economic system on which trade, border cooperation, port operations and the resilience of regional supply chains depend. The joint exercise by Romania, Serbia and Hungary shows that countries of the basin are increasingly moving from declarative cooperation to the practical testing of crisis scenarios,” IDR emphasizes.

For Ukraine, such exercises also have special significance. Under wartime conditions, the Lower Danube has become one of the key directions for foreign trade and agricultural logistics resilience. Therefore, navigation safety, readiness to respond to incidents on the water, counteraction to illegal activity and the ability to coordinate between states are important not only for EU and Balkan countries, but also for Ukraine’s Danube region.

IDR stresses that strengthening river security cooperation on the Danube should be seen as part of a broader regional resilience architecture. Ukraine is interested in such formats promoting the exchange of experience, procedural compatibility, stronger protection of port infrastructure and a shared understanding of risks in the Danube–Black Sea area.

In this context, BLUE DANUBE 2026 is not only a military exercise, but also a signal that a secure Danube is becoming a prerequisite for stable logistics, regional cooperation and the economic resilience of the entire basin.