ABSTRACT
The Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project on the Danube River has given rise to one of the most controversial transborder risk disputes in Europe. In 1977, a treaty between Czechoslovakia and Hungary was signed to build two hydroelectric dams: the Gabcikovo dam in Slovakia and the Nagymaros dam on the Danube Bend near Budapest. Particularly on the Hungarian side, where the project was linked to the unpopular socialist rule, there were strong protests on the part of scientists, environmental groups, and the public. It was feared that the dams would damage the valuable ecosystem of the region, threaten the underground water reserves on which more than a million Hungarians depend, and jeopardize the rights of the Hungarian minority living in Slovakia. Fifteen years after signing the treaty, Hungary unilaterally withdrew.
