Danube once appears as the mother of Vrtra, "a dragon blocking the course of the rivers." The Finnish word for Danube is Tonava, which is most likely derived from the word for the river in Swedish and German, "Donau". Its Sámi name "Deatnu" means "Great River". It is possible that "dānu" in Scythian as in Avestan was a generic word for "river": "Dnieper" and "Dniestr", from "Danapris" and "Danastius", are presumed to continue Scythian "*dānu apara" "far river" and "*dānu nazdya-" "near river", respectively. The river was known to the ancient Greeks as the "Istros" (Ἴστρος) a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian
Nazi rule over the Danube River also of States situated on the Danube or near the Danube constitutes a restoration of justice violated by the Versailles and other treaties, on the strength of which the British Government, having played a leading part in this matter, the U.S.S.R. was kept out of the international as well as the European Danube Commission. The Danube Commission must naturally be composed of representatives of States situated on or closely connected with the Danube and using the Danube as a trade channel (for instance, Italy). It is clear that Great Britain, being removed thousands of kilometers from the Danube, cannot be