VIPOTNIK: CONTINUED EFFORTS TO PREVENT CROATIA FROM BUILDING A DISPOSAL SITE

BANJA LUKA, December 15 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Minister for Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology Bojan Vipotnik said it was expected that the Croatian Parliament would adopt the Law on the Construction of a Radioactive Waste Management Centre at Trgovska Gora, stressing that Srpska is not discouraged and will continue to work, with well-grounded arguments, to prevent this intention.

Vipotnik said that all preparatory activities related to participation before the Secretariat of the Espoo Convention and the confrontation with the Croatian side, expected in May next year in Geneva, are being completed today. "We are sending the final set of documents necessary for this process, as well as the list of delegation members. This is one of the major steps ahead of us in the coming period, with the aim of stopping Croatia through law, professional expertise and science, and before certain international formats and bodies—whether through arbitration or via conventions that oppose the activities and the manner in which Croatia is currently implementing them," Vipotnik told SRNA. According to him, the debate and vote on the disputed law in the Croatian Parliament proved that the location at Trgovska Gora is a purely politically motivated decision, taken without consulting professional and scientific experts. He emphasized that it has been demonstrated that the authorities in Croatia were not guided by any facts related to the Trgovska Gora issue, noting that it has been stated from the outset that this location does not meet any of the parameters required for the construction of a radioactive waste disposal site. "They did not take into account at all the comments, proposals, suggestions and objections of a large number of MPs, which leads us to the conclusion that the Croatian public is deeply divided on this issue," Vipotnik said. He pointed out that a large number of MPs in the Croatian Parliament, as well as a significant number of Croatian citizens, opposed the manner in which the disputed law was adopted, along with the non-transparent procedures that were not based on professional and scientific analyses. The Croatian Parliament today adopted the Law on the Construction of a Radioactive Waste Management Centre at Trgovska Gora, supported by 77 MPs, with 36 abstentions and 21 votes against. Croatia plans to store radioactive waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant and existing institutional waste at Trgovska Gora, in the municipality of Dvor, near the border with BiH.