LALIĆ: RESIDENTS SEE TRGOVSKA GORA PLAN AS ENVIRONMENTALLY UNJUST

NOVI GRAD, SEPTEMBER 28 /SRNA/ - More than 80 percent of residents in municipalities along the Una River near the border largely view Croatia's plan to store nuclear waste nearby as an environmental injustice, Professor Velibor Lalić, co-author of a study on the issue, said in a statement to SRNA.

Respondents believe it is unfair for people in BiH to be exposed to possible risks from Croatia's plan to store radioactive waste at Trgovska Gora even though they neither contributed to creating the waste nor derive any benefit from it. "This is a strong message to decision-makers in Croatia and BiH, as well as to international institutions," Lalić said, stressing that the issue goes beyond national borders and is of general importance to everyone living in the area, regardless of nationality or territorial affiliation. He said the findings of the study, titled Environmental Injustice in the Dispute Over the Location of Cross-Border Radioactive Waste: Implications for Social Sustainability in BiH Border Communities, published in the international scientific journal Sustainability, could be significant in supporting BiH institutions as well as legal and expert teams. "This gives the Trgovska Gora case much greater international visibility, since until now it has largely remained within local and regional frameworks. The voice of people from potentially affected communities can carry particular weight, but only if it is properly articulated and directed", Lalić said. He said that for local residents, Trgovska Gora is not merely a technical issue of radioactive waste storage, but one that concerns their livelihood and continued survival in the area. "These are perceptions expressed in this sample, not directly measured objective risk. That is an important limitation that we clearly state in the paper", Lalić noted. He added that the study provides empirical evidence of a high level of opposition among local residents to the Trgovska Gora project. "With this paper, which is theoretically grounded in the concept of environmental justice, that impression has been empirically confirmed and scientifically verified in an influential journal indexed in a prestigious database", Lalić said, adding that the research covered 385 residents. He said this opens the possibility of using the findings in political dialogue, communication with international institutions and potential legal proceedings, while the local communities themselves could also benefit. Lalić said cooperation with experts in security and risk management from Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Belgrade, as well as representatives of the Green Team organization from Novi Grad, grew out of research he conducted in 2023 on the impact of the Trgovska Gora project on the population of Novi Grad. "Austria is an important member of the team, so cooperation with Professor Vladimir Cvetković from the University of Belgrade and the Technical University of Leoben is important because his experience in publishing in top scientific journals was particularly valuable in ensuring that the paper met the high standards of a journal indexed in the Web of Science citation database", Lalić explained. He also highlighted the contribution of students who were then in their fourth year at the University of Banja Luka Faculty of Security Studies - Tijana Vukojević, Dušan Ponjorac, Nikola Prelo and Nemanja Tešić, and expressed satisfaction that young people were showing interest in important social issues. Lalić pointed out that the technical aspects of waste storage are highly important, but represent only one dimension of the problem, stressing the importance of social aspects that are reflected in an imbalance of social power. "The Trgovska Gora case is specific because the decision is being made in one country, while the harmful effects are expected predominantly in another country, which is essentially excluded from the process and has no real mechanisms to influence the decision. Participation must be substantive, not merely formal or declarative", Lalić pointed out. He noted that it is common practice around the world for communities located near waste disposal sites to receive significant economic benefits because they are exposed to risk, while in the case of Trgovska Gora, citizens of BiH are left only with the risk. Lalić said the Espoo and Aarhus conventions, to which both BiH and Croatia are signatories, require a country planning such projects to conduct a transboundary impact assessment, notify and consult the neighboring country and its population, and take those consultations into account when making the final decision. He noted that it is precisely the procedural aspect, genuine consideration of the views of affected communities, rather than merely formally notifying them, that the research findings call into question. "The findings of this study show that, from the perspective of our respondents, practice in this case deviates significantly from the spirit of those international conventions", Lalić said. According to him, perceptions among residents of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH are very similar when it comes to the distribution of potential risks and benefits, the right to participate and make decisions, and respect for the interests of affected communities. The authors of the study are Velibor Lalić from the University of Banja Luka Faculty of Security Studies, Armin Kržalić from the University of Sarajevo Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies, Vladimir M. Cvetković from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Security Studies and the Technical University of Leoben, Milan Lipovac from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Security Studies, and Mario Crnković from the Green Team organization in Novi Grad. Croatia plans to store radioactive waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, as well as existing institutional radioactive waste, at the Trgovska Gora site in the municipality of Dvor, directly on the border with BiH.