DIZDAREVIĆ: POSITIONS TO BE PRESENTED BEFORE ESPOO CONVENTION COMMITTEE ON THURSDAY IN GENEVA

SARAJEVO, MAY 11 /SRNA/ - BiH and Croatia will present their positions on Thursday, May 14, before the ESPOO Convention Committee in Geneva regarding the construction of a nuclear waste disposal site at Trgovska Gora, Emir Dizdarević, head of the BiH Trgovska Gora expert team, told SRNA.

Dizdarević says that discussions will cover three questions received by BiH and 13 received by Croatia, to which both sides have responded, as well as possible additional issues, while the Committee's conclusions could be issued in December. According to him, the Laborde Law firm, which represents BiH, will legally structure the responses provided by the expert group, covering everything done since the strategic environmental impact studies from 2014, 2015, and 2016, as well as the work of institutions on this issue. "I hope that we will have comments on the Croatia's responses from all members of the BiH delegation who will be in Geneva, so that this day of confrontation can be used to seek clarifications and further explanations," Dizdarević said. He recalled that the procedure before the ESPOO Convention Committee began a year ago. "Through its contact point, BiH filed a complaint to the ESPOO Convention, stating that it was not sufficiently included in Croatia's intentions given the potential cross-border impact, which the Committee accepted," Dizdarević said. He noted that the public remains involved in the process, mentioning the Aarhus Convention, an international agreement defining environmental rights and serving as a reliable basis for citizen participation in environmental policy. "BiH has also filed an objection under that convention," he said, adding that a complaint regarding the construction of a nuclear waste disposal site at Trgovska Gora has also been submitted to the European Commission. Dizdarević stated that the decision expected from the ESPOO Convention Committee in December, which minitors the implementation of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, is not binding, but still carries significant weight.