Bosnia and Herzegovina does not exclude the possibility of engaging an international legal team in the dispute with Croatia, which announces the postponement of radioactive waste from the Krško nuclear power plant to Trgovska Gora near the border.
The Croatian side has prohibited members of the Expert and Legal Team for Trgovska Gora from monitoring the implementation of the Environmental Impact Study, raising suspicions that the results will not show the true danger to the environment and the health of the population in Republika Srpska and the Federation, which gravitate to the location where the disposal of nuclear waste is planned.
It does not bode well for the citizens of Novi Grad and other municipalities in Republika Srpska and the FBiH, as Croatia intends to store radioactive waste from the Krško nuclear power plant at the site of the former Čerkezovac barracks on Trgovska Gora from January 1, 2028, confirmed members of the Expert and Legal Team for Trgovska Gora to RTRS.
“Croatia intends to take its share, 50 percent of low and medium-level radioactive waste generated in the operation of the Krško plant, and package that waste at a location in a third country in concrete containers, bring the packaged waste to Čerkezovac for storage, which they plan to open by 2028 and complete all formal activities in this matter,” said Emir Dizdarević, chair of the Expert Team for monitoring the situation and activities on Trgovska Gora.
Coordinator of the Expert and Legal Team for Trgovska Gora, Borislav Bojić, stated that nearly two-thirds of the territory within a radius of 20 kilometers is located in Republika Srpska and partially in the FBiH, which speaks for itself that the construction of such a facility makes no sense and cannot be done without the consent of BiH.
Croatia does not want to solve the problem but persistently insists on storing radioactive waste on the border with Republika Srpska, i.e., BiH, which is surprising because Slovenia offers to store all nuclear waste from Krško, said Stasha Košarac, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. He announced that BiH will initiate international arbitration against Croatia in case of violations of the European Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment across State Borders, with funds allocated for the lawsuit in the budgets.
“We can retaliate reciprocally, and if they continue, bilateral relations between BiH and Croatia have been violated,” said Košarac.
Unofficially, the Croatian side was willing to allow experts from BiH to monitor the work on the Environmental Impact Study, but under the influence of a British advisory agency they engaged, they completely excluded members of the Expert and Legal Team for Trgovska Gora, as if the potential disposal of radioactive waste did not concern the health and future of over 250,000 residents of both entities along the border with Croatia.
Source: RTRS
