GALIĆ: BiH HAS BEEN HOLDING CROATIA BACK FOR YEARS IN TRGOVSKA GORA PROJECT

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, DECEMBER 21 /SRNA/ – Croatia has been held back for five to six years in its attempts to initiate key steps in the construction of a nuclear waste disposal site on Trgovska Gora, while objections were also submitted to the European Commission last week, Nemanja Galić, a member of the Trgovska Gora Expert Team, told SRNA.

Galić emphasized that all of this has been achieved thanks to the legal strategy and organised, continuous activities of the Expert Team and BiH institutions, stressing that activities have intensified since Croatia entered the so-called public phase. “Last week we submitted detailed objections to the European Commission and requested more action, including the initiation of a possible procedure before the EU Court of Justice,” Galić said. He has stressed that Croatia has still not met the basic prerequisite to begin concrete works at the site, as it has not completed the environmental impact study, within which BiH must also be included. “They are announcing that the study will be published in the first quarter of next year, but that is only the first step. We closely monitor all activities and respond to every change. The public may not always see everything, but every Croatia’s decision triggers our response,” Galić stated. He recalled that BiH’s legal protection strategy was adopted three years ago and that all steps are being followed accordingly, as well as that in April proceedings were initiated before the Implementation Committee of the Espoo Convention, alongside continuous work with the Sava and Danube Commissions and EU institutions. Following the SDP BiH’s statement that activities should be intensified without delay in order to stop the project in Croatia, Galić noted that institutions and experts in BiH have been preparing scientific and field evidence for years that will be significant in the further process. “At scientific conferences in Bihać and Banja Luka alone,” he says, “nearly 40 papers based on domestic analyses and research were presented.” He also emphasized that the slowness of the Croatia’s process is not accidental, but the result of pressure and timely interventions by BiH. “Croatia has repeatedly had to extend its agreement with Slovenia on the takeover of radioactive waste. This clearly shows how far behind they are. Our reaction was crucial in that,” Galić concluded. Earlier today, the SDP BiH caucus in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH called on all relevant politicians in BiH to “without delay intensify activities in terms of legal and political struggle at international addresses in order to stop the project of establishing a nuclear waste disposal site on the border with BiH.”