ROMANIA will receive EUR59 million (US$68 million) from the European Union to make navigation safer and protect areas threatened by flooding along the River Danube. The money from the EU's cohesion funds will be invested in modernising two floodgates in eastern Romania that link the Danube to the Black Sea, reported The Associated Press. European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu said the funds would unlock "the enormous potential of commercial river traffic," and boost the regional economy, forecasting river traffic would rise by 50 per cent. The Danube is Europe's second longest river after the Volga and flows through nine countries, starting in Germany's Black Forest before passing through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.