Around 50 people gathered in Košice on Monday, February 25, before a session of the Košice Region (KSK) council to express their disagreement with potential uranium mining in Jahodná where extensive deposits have been discovered.
Organiser of the protest Ladislav Rovinský handed leaflets to the councillors that state that KSK has supported the country's biggest ever environmental petition (against the mining), which has already been signed by 113,000 people and 41 towns and cities. "We're calling on the KSK council to adopt a resolution that would confirm an unchanged negative stance on uranium mining, to use its right to interrupt and prevent ongoing step-by-step activities [in preparation for mining] and to adopt a resolution on a 50-year moratorium on mining radioactive minerals on KSK territory," said Rovinský as quoted by the TASR newswire.
A company called Ludovika Energy, which has been engaged in the uranium mining project, has rejected Rovinský's statements. "We definitely disapprove of the activities of Ladislav Rovinský, who is campaigning against our company and backing up his false arguments ... insensitively misusing photographs of children suffering from cancer. Such activities are far beyond the limits of ethical behaviour and certainly have no place in a democratic society," said Ludovika Energy spokesman Maroš Havran. According to him, Rovinský has not provided a single relevant argument based on geological research.
The protesting activists were mostly angered by the Memorandum on Cooperation, secretly signed by the company and the Economy Ministry at the end of 2012. The memorandum defies the will of citizens and also a petition signed several years ago against uranium mining in Slovakia, the Sme daily wrote in its Tuesday, February 26 issue. The petition also gave the decisive power to local administrations and citizens rather than state bodies.
(Source: TASR, Sme)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
