31.07.2007
European Greens welcome Polish Government’s decision to suspend
construction of Rospuda
Valley motorway
The spokespersons of the European Green Party today
welcomed the Polish government’s announcement that it will not go ahead
with work on the so-called Via Baltica motorway in the environmentally
sensitive Rospuda Valley, due to start on Wednesday 1st August .
EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts
said: “We are very pleased that the Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw
Kaczynski has at last bowed to international and domestic pressure and decided
to suspend work on the section of the Via Baltica Motorway which passes through
the Rospuda Valley. The Polish government has been
forced to climb down, not only by the European Commission’s application
for an injunction from the European Court of Justice to stop the work, but also
by the extremely effective and imaginative campaign which
environmentalists ,including the EGP’s member party in Poland, Zieloni 2004, have been
engaged in for the past few months. Zieloni
2004 joined forces with several environmental organisations
including Greenpeace,WWF, the Polish Academy of Science and even the Board of Advisers to
the Ministry of the Environment to form the umbrella group “In Defence of
the Valley” and they have held many protests, in the Rospuda Valley,
and in towns and cities throughout Poland. It is worth pointing out
that protesters prevented work beginning on the Rospuda section of the road in
January and had they not done so, then great environmental damage would already
have been caused. Everyone in Europe who cares
about protecting our natural heritage owes a huge debt of gratitude to those
environmental activists.”
EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike
Lunacek continued: “While we welcome
today’s decision, we realise that it is only a temporary reprieve. That
is why it is extremely important that the European Court of Justice acts
quickly to give a final verdict on this case. The Rospuda Valley
is protected under the EU’s Natura 2000 network of conservation sites and
is also covered by the Wild Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. It is
one of Europe’s most important wetland
habitats and the building of this section of the road threatens the existence
of several endangered species that live in the valley. This means that the ECJ
must deliver a final judgement in this case which protects the area from any environmentally
destructive construction work, in accordance with its Natura 2000 status.
Alternative routes which would cause much less environmental damage do exist
and the Polish government should use one of these, rather than contravening EU
environmental legislation. The best solution for the region’s transport
problems would be to invest money in improving international railway connections,
which are grossly inadequate at the moment. A “RAIL BALTICA” project would help to
reduce traffic on Europe’s already
congested motorways. We hope that today’s decision means that the
Polish government will respect EU environmental legislation and accept its
responsibility to protect a unique site of natural and scientific interest. If
they do not do so, and announce at some stage in the future that they will
resume work on the Rospuda section of the road, then the EU must take the
strongest possible measures to protect not only the valley, but also the very
credibility of EU environmental legislation.”
Graham Burgess
Communications Officer
European Green Party
email:graham.burgess@europeangreens.org
Tel no: +32 2 626 0724
Mobile no: +32 477 902 023