‘Monsters, Lika is choking down here’: Protest banner targets waste crisis and EU prosecutor

One of the most striking banners at the Zagreb protest carried a blunt appeal to European institutions: “MONSTERS, Lika is choking down here! Laura Kövesi, HELP!” The protest concerned the illegal dumping of waste in Gospić and the wider Lika region.

The Romanian word “ajutor,” meaning “help,” was used to call on the European institutions to intervene in a problem that protesters say has shaken Gospić for months. The demonstration, titled “Walk for Lika, Walk for Croatia,” was organized by the civic initiative “Gospić Is Our Home,” which brought residents from different parts of Croatia to the capital.

The protesters are seeking urgent and comprehensive remediation of the waste site, publication of soil and water analyses, and a determination of responsibility. An expert assessment previously reported in the article found about 37,000 tonnes of mixed waste at the former PPK Velebit site, along with confirmed contamination of soil and groundwater.

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Monsters, Lika is choking down here! Laura Kövesi, help!

The government has said it will assume financial responsibility for the cleanup. The civic initiative, however, says the action taken so far has not been sufficient. The banner’s reference to “Monsters” also invoked a separate public controversy involving Anna Dujić, who was accused of attempting to coerce and threatening an official after an incident with a police officer during a major fire in the Šibenik area in July 2024.

Kövesi, who heads the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, was also mentioned because she said in March that her team in Croatia had been “systematically attacked,” with European prosecutors facing disinformation campaigns and personal attacks. Croatia’s Justice Ministry rejected claims of pressure and attacks against European delegated prosecutors.

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systematically attacked