Greece, Bulgaria reach long-awaited water deal before summer

After months of negotiations, Bulgaria and Greece have signed a five-year water deal, the Bulgarian foreign ministry confirmed, a decision that prompted relief among Greek farmers anxious about their crops.

The deal replaces a 60-year agreement that expired last July, underscoring just how precarious water resources have become in the Mediterranean region due to climate change.

The impasse over a deal had alarmed farmers in the northern Greek region of Evros, who staged tractor blockades in January demanding a solution. It has proven controversial in Bulgaria, where opposition parties have accused the government of giving away a valuable resource for free.

Under a joint declaration signed by the two neighbours' foreign ministers on May 2, Bulgaria will release water from the River Arda flowing from its mountains into 200 square kilometers of the Evros plain in northern Greece.

The amount will be decided annually after assessing Bulgaria's own needs, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.

"The two sides stress the importance of water resources... as well as the need to protect these resources in view of the risks posed by climate change," the ministry said, without providing any further details.

Greek farmers had hoped for a longer-term deal but welcomed the new agreement.

"At the very last minute, there was a solution," said Dimitris Drakoudis, head of a local farmers' association.

"We were worried because the irrigation season has started," he said, adding that farmers were still waiting for more details on the terms of the deal.

The expired deal was part of World War II reparations agreement signed in 1964 and had obliged Bulgaria to release 186 million cubic meters of water every year from May to September, from hydroelectric dams to Evros.

Greece has no functioning reservoirs in the area to retain water and is required to upgrade or build necessary water storage facilities under the new agreement, Bulgaria said.