Protests against Croatia's plan to dump radioactive waste near the border with Bosnia was held in the northern town of Novi Grad, where protestors said no to nuclear waste in Trgovska gora.
“I’m especially pleased to see the brave women from Sisak, Croatia. These women were able to say no to the burning of medical waste in Sisak and this is an example of how we should act. Then we see the people from Lukavac and Tuzla who came to support us, to say NO to radioactive waste on Trgovska gora. There are 26 environmental organizations with us. Part of them will also say STOP at 12 o’clock in Sarajevo. It is important to say that we all need to be aware of the magnitude of this problem,” said Mario Crnkovic from the Green Team Association.
Crnkovic also told the crowd that he understands that those who advocate the disposal of radioactive waste on Trgovska gora have their own interests, but that he does not understand why they have to insult the intelligence of the citizens of Novi Grad.
In March 2019, Bosnia asked Croatia to reconsider its proposal to use the location Trgovska Gora near the border with Bosnia and the Bosnian town of Novi Grad as its dumpsite for nuclear waste, but Croatia failed to find a different location, saying that they never made a final decision regarding Trgovska gora.
Miroslav Drljaca, the Mayor of Novi Grad, also addressed the crowd, saying that the people gathered in there were gathered around one idea, one fight and that their message is that they do not want any waste in the Una river valley, especially not the nuclear waste.
“This crazy idea has been going on for many years and has popped up in the minds of people who don’t live here, people who think they can do anything, whose only god is money. We have to tell them NO! They tell us terrible things – they say it’s nothing, they say there’s no danger, they even tell us that we will live better when that waste comes here. We must not trust them. In their minds – we don’t exist, our children don’t exist and they decided on our behalf that the waste should be disposed of in our front yard,” Drljaca said and added that all 250.000 inhabitants from the Una river valley must say no to the Croatian decision.
The protest rally was also attended by Sasa Magazinovic, SDP’s delegate in the State Parliament, who thanked all the activists who have done a lot so far saying that they have only one aim which is that everyone in Bosnia is finally working together for the same common goal.
