As the Danube River, which passes through 10 European countries, dries up due to a drought, the power crisis in basin countries such as Hungary and Serbia is worsening.

According to Reuters, AFP, and other news agencies, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in a video message on the 2nd (local time) that "tomorrow, for the first time in 44 years, the Paks nuclear power plant will halt operations," adding that "the next five days will be a critical turning point."

Prime Minister Magyar stated that power generation at the Paks plant dropped from its previous 2,000 MWh (megawatt-hours) to 240 MWh that morning, and urged citizens to reduce electricity usage between 5 PM and 10 PM.

The Paks nuclear plant, which accounts for about 40 percent of Hungary's electricity generation, has sequentially suspended the operation of its four reactors starting on the 29th of last month as the water level of the Danube River—from which it draws cooling water—dropped to an all-time low.

Prime Minister Magyar said the Paks plant may not be able to produce electricity for several weeks.

Authorities have imposed water-use restrictions in more than 100 areas, including the outskirts of Budapest, and are considering mandatory restrictions on electricity consumption for large corporations.

Hydropower plants along the Danube River are also facing the threat of shutdowns.

Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović said in a local media interview that day that the power generation of the Đerdap 1 and 2 hydroelectric power plants has dropped to about 20 percent and 30 percent of their installed capacity, respectively.

The two power plants account for about 18 percent of Serbia's electricity production.

The Danube River, which originates in Germany and flows to the Black Sea, has been breaking record-low water levels in various places due to the recent drought.

On the 29th of last month, the water level measured at the Budapest observatory was 23 cm, which was 10 cm lower than the previous record of 33 cm.

In Prahovo, eastern Serbia, as the Danube River bed was exposed, the wreckage of Nazi warships sunk during World War II was discovered.

About 200 warships were intentionally sunk by the Nazis as they retreated from the area.

These warships also serve as an indicator of the Danube River's low water levels.

Meanwhile, the Rhine River, which cuts through western Germany, is also continuously breaking low-water-level records.

As cargo volume has dropped to a third of usual levels and logistics costs have surged, concerns over supply chain disruptions are growing.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) predicted that the drought on the Rhine River could drag down Germany's third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points.

The Rhine River serves as a logistics artery transporting raw materials to industrial cities along its basin from Cologne in the northwest to Stuttgart in the southwest.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)