Croatia's intention to dispose nuclear waste near its border with Bosnia is utterly unacceptable and this is a common stance of all levels of authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Foreign Trade and Economic Minister, Stasa Kosarac, told Croatia's Environment and Energy Minister, Tomislav Coric, on Tuesday, announcing a possibility of initiating an international arbitral dispute.

In a phone meeting, Kosarac said he was familiarised with the recent decision of Croatia’s Environment and Energy Ministry to allow the use of former military warehouse Cerkezovac in Dvor municipality for disposal of nuclear power plant Krsko’s waste.

Bosnian authorities at all levels find Croatia’s intention to dispose nuclear waste near the border with Bosnia “utterly unacceptable,” Kosarac told the minister and expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that Croatia is not giving up the idea to assign the military warehouse Cerkezovac as a preferred location for this purpose.

The potential construction of the nuclear waste landfill at the site known as Trgovska Gora would jeopardise lives of 250,000 residents of 13 municipalities down the Una river and would have a negative effect on the environment, stressed Kosarac, adding that this would also pose a serious security threat due to the fact that this area is known as an earthquake zone.

He announced that Bosnia would form a team of experts who will be dealing with this open issue and said he would insist on the Espoo Convention, which sets out the obligations to assess the environmental impact of certain activities at an early stage of planning.

Kosarac expressed hope the issue would be solved in a diplomatic manner, but if Croatia keeps on insisting on the same location, Bosnia will initiate an international arbitral dispute, he underlined.

Minister Coric recalled that Croatia and Slovenia have not to date reached consent on the disposal of radioactive waste in Vrbina, Slovenia, and that if no agreement is reached both countries will have to resolve the disposal of their own quantities of radioactive waste.