VIPOTNIK: SOLID ARGUMENTS TO MAKE CROATIA LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR WASTE STORAGE

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 26 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology Bojan Vipotnik told SRNA that Srpska has scientific, expert and legal arguments regarding Trgovska Gora that could force the Croatian side to seek another location for the disposal of radioactive waste.

"All aspects of environmental protection have been analyzed and 'covered' by research, and the legal team, reinforced by experts from the Paris law firm 'Labord', is working every day to find all models of legal protection. This includes actions ranging from filing complaints over violations of international conventions to possible proceedings before international courts," Vipotnik said.

He said the ministry is collecting all relevant data on Trgovska Gora every day so that Republika Srpska has complete and up-to-date arguments and can finally put an end to Croatia's intention to build a radioactive waste disposal facility right on the border.

"Although we still have no official confirmation that Croatia will, as announced, submit to Republika Srpska, that is, BiH, as a potentially affected country, the Environmental Impact Assessment for the construction of the so-called radioactive waste management center at Trgovska Gora in November, our expert team is fully prepared," Vipotnik said.

He said it was encouraging that the Croatian public has finally begun to pay more attention to the Trgovska Gora case.

"It took the revelation of the story about illegal imports of hazardous waste into Croatia for the story about storing nuclear waste at Čerkezovac, on the border with a neighboring country that opposes it, to reach the widest public in Croatia," Vipotnik concluded.

Croatia plans to store radioactive waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, as well as existing institutional waste, at the Trgovska Gora site in the municipality of Dvor, right on the border with BiH