Protest Organizers Tell Government: We Will Watch Your Every Move

The protest in Zagreb succeeded in sending the government a clear message. Tens of thousands of dissatisfied citizens from across the political spectrum gathered to reject what they described as the use of Croatia by a waste mafia to dump hazardous and illegal waste for profit.

The demonstration also demanded political responsibility for the nearly 40,000 tonnes of hazardous and illegal waste buried in Lika. What remains unclear is how much political damage the protest, together with the revelations about the waste in recent months, will ultimately cause and whether it could change Croatia’s political scene.

The organizers have set demanding deadlines. They want a complete waste-remediation plan, including a timetable, within 20 days. They also want around 33,000 tonnes of waste buried in Gospić removed within three months.

Environment Minister Marija Vučković told HRT’s Dnevnik after the protest that the government would present its remediation plan by Sept. 20. She said this had been agreed at a meeting with citizen representatives held at the end of July. On the three-month deadline for excavating and removing the waste, however, she gave no firm commitment. “It is difficult to say anything about a three-month deadline,” Vučković said, adding that deadlines in the remediation plan would play an important role and that the government wanted to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

The protest’s impact will also depend on what organizers from the citizen initiative Gospić Is Our Home do next. They have repeatedly said they have no intention of leaving those in power alone after the demonstration. They plan to monitor every government action concerning the hazardous and illegal waste, analyze each step with experts and reject what they call empty promises. They also fear that a rushed cleanup could cause even worse pollution, as has happened in other countries, including the United Kingdom. Organizer Vjeko Bušić told Večernji list that further protests remained possible if there was no progress, and that the group planned to use all available means to press its demands.

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It is difficult to say anything about a three-month deadline.