Expert team formed, BiH will go to Strasbourg to resolve the Trgovska Gora issue

(Patria) - The Coordination Body of BiH for the issue of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel disposal at the Trgovska Gora site held its first session today. An expert team consisting of 21 people has been formed, including representatives of certain institutions and scientists from necessary fields.

According to the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, Staša Košarac, in addition to professors, the team will include representatives of entity ministries, the Green Club, the Municipality of Novi Grad and the Government of Una-Sana Canton, as well as representatives of competent agencies.

The expert team is headed by Emir Dizdarević, Deputy Director of the Agency, and its members include representatives of entity ministries Svetlana Radusin and Sabina Šahman Salibegović, Jasmin Emrić on behalf of the Green Club, Mayor of Novi Grad Municipality Miroslav Drljača, a representative of USC, and scientific experts Neđo Đurić, Munir Jahić, Goran Trbić, Edin Delić, Dženan Ćerimagić, Kenan Mađić, Zvjezdan Karadžin, Zoran Vrače, Milan Orlić, Velibor Čurković, Natalija Samrdžić, Alfred Vidić, Jelena Marinković, Stipe Galić, and Mirjana Miličević.

"We took care to include experts from all fields in the first phase, in accordance with the procedures defined by the Law on the Council of Ministers and the Rules of Procedure. I will submit the decision proposal to the Council of Ministers for adoption, and I believe it will be adopted. In parallel, we discussed the formation of a legal team, and in the next two days, we will organize a video conference and define the structure. The proposal will be submitted to the Council of Ministers in 10-15 days," said Košarac.

He appealed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH to initiate diplomatic activities with Croatia so that our team can go to Croatia and talk with the authorities, to ensure our experts are involved intensively from the very beginning, and to state that this is unacceptable for us from the perspective of public health, the environment, and the potential endangerment of Una National Park, as well as security and health challenges.

The Minister of Spatial Planning of RS, Srebrenka Golić, stated that according to the latest information, Croatia has initiated activities with the Fund dealing with this issue. This fund has issued a public call for the selection of a consulting firm to prepare an environmental impact study, but the call has been canceled. The reason is unknown.

"If the intention of the Croatian authorities remains the same, during the preparation of the study, they must inform the affected country, which is BiH. We do not know what they plan next," said Golić.

When it was stated that Croatia does not consider us an affected party, Golić said that international courts, such as the one in Strasbourg, will deal with this.

"They must inform us; it is inconceivable that a nuclear waste repository is being built next to protected areas. A legal battle lies ahead if Croatia does not abandon its intention," Golić stated.

Minister Košarac said that BiH institutions were paralyzed regarding this issue, but that this has changed since he took over the ministry. He had meetings with all representatives of institutions and ministries, and in Brussels, he informed DG Energy about this problem.

"One of the priority activities is resolving the issue of Trgovska Gora. I appeal for the mobilization of all those who can contribute to proving that our concern for people's health and Una National Park is justified," said Košarac.

Saša Magazinović, representative of the Green Club, said that this topic has been discussed a lot, but there have been no concrete activities so far.

"I do not have an answer as to why the Presidency of BiH has not undertaken concrete activities so far, as this certainly concerns foreign policy. I will remind you that after the international conference we organized as the Green Club, the Presidency adopted a series of conclusions, including that it will communicate with the institutions of the Republic of Croatia and that a legal team will be formed. That was in March last year, and nothing has been implemented. Most of the activities have been implemented on the initiative of two entity ministries and the state ministry, and only now is it at some stage of seriousness. I am an opposition MP, the ministers are from the ruling position, but when this issue is on the agenda, this must be a place of contact and cooperation for all of us. Politics has the most significant share in this, but nothing can be done without expertise," said Magazinović.

The Mayor of Novi Grad Municipality, Miroslav Drljača, said that the turning point was the conference in March last year organized by the Green Club, as it was then realized that this is not just a problem for Novi Grad but for the entire BiH, N1 reports.

"That was the first time we felt that we, as citizens, were not alone, that there was a consensus. We also have citizens of Croatia from Dvor who are not respected by anyone. They have also expressed their readiness for the repository not to be on their territory. But Croatia will not give up because they have little time, given that their existing storage facility has space for disposal until 2023," said Drljača.