VIPOTNIK: BiH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES INSTEAD OF PROTECTING CITIZENS’ INTERESTS

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 7 /SRNA/ – Minister for Spatial Planning, Construction, and Ecology of Republika Srpska, Bojan Vipotnik, told SRNA that it seems Republika Srpska and Una-Sana Canton are left alone in their efforts to stop the construction of a nuclear facility right on the border, stressing that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs /MFA/ in the Council of Ministers has not even submitted an official request to Croatia to stop violating international conventions regarding Trgovska Gora.

Vipotnik pointed out that the BiH MFA within the Council of Ministers is not doing its job, but playing daily political games instead of protecting the interests of 250,000 BiH citizens. He claims there are even deliberate obstructions to efforts aimed at halting construction at Trgovska Gora, noting that Croatia is violating international conventions in a cross-border context, as well as its own laws. Vipotnik says there is no official information confirming that the demolition of existing structures at the former military complex Čerkezovac at Trgovska Gora has been completed in order to establush a radioactive waste disposal centre for waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which Croatia plans to store at this site, located right on the border with BiH. He emphasized that the ministry learned of this through the media, and that Croatia has been acting from the beginning as if it were building the nuclear facility on Mount Sljeme above Zagreb, disregarding any cross-border obligations. Vipotnik reminded that an environmental impact study for the construction of this nuclear facility has not been published or submitted to BiH, and added that all work currently being carried out at Čerkezovac represents a flagrant violation of international conventions related to cross-border issues, as well as Croatian laws. “That’s why the claims by the Radioactive Waste Management Centre that all work is being conducted with maximum safety and under strict supervision to prevent any negative impact on the environment and local population are extremely cynical,” Vipotnik stated. The impact of works at Čerkezovac on the environment and the local population on the BiH border side is, obviously, of no concern to the Croatian side. But what is, as he says, even more tragic – is that it doesn’t concern the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the Council of Ministers either, whose interests begin and end in the area between Marindvor and Baščaršija. "Sometimes it feels like Republika Srpska and the Una-Sana Canton are alone in their efforts to stop the construction of a nuclear facility right on the border, and that there may even be deliberate obstructions," pointed out Vipotnik. He emphasized that the ministry he heads demands from the Presidency of BiH, the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the BiH Embassy in Zagreb to finally understand that the Una River basin is endangered, that economic development is threatened, and that the lives and health of more than 250,000 citizens in the western part of Krajina, in both entities, are at risk; and to finally get actively and urgently involved in resolving this issue. At the site of the former Čerkezovac military storage complex, existing structures have been removed to establish a centre for the disposal of radioactive waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which Croatia plans to store at the Trgovska Gora location, right on the border with BiH.