ROSIA MONTANA: Ungarischer Umweltminister verlangt Erklärung zur Entwicklung in Rosia

Der ungarische Umweltminister, Miklos Persányi, hat am 12.3. von der rumänischen Seite über das Bukarester Außenministerium dringend um Erklärung zu den Entwicklungen um die geplante Goldmine in Rosia gebeten. Die folgende Presseerklärung des ungarischen Ministeriums wurde von Alburnus Maior in englischer Sprache zur Verfügung gestellt.

Miklos Persányi requests urgent explanations from Romania regarding developments in Rosia Montana

Budapest, Hungary – 12. 03. 2004. Miklós Persányi, the Hungarian Minister of Environment and Water, today requested urgent explanations from his Romanian counterpart via the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the developments of a planned gold mine in Rosia Montana, Romania.
According to news from press sources published in the last few days, the construction of the “New Rosia Montana ” village will begin this year. In the village’s current location and proximity an Australian-Canadian-Romanian company intends to open one of Europe’s largest open cast gold mine. The last time the Hungarian Ministry for Environment received information regarding the project was during the first meeting of the Hungarian-Romanian Environmental Committee attended by Ilie Sarbu, the Romanian minister who at that time was responsible for environmental affairs. The information communicated drew to the fact that the investor had withdrawn the request for an environmental permit; submitted in June 2003. At the same time the investor requested a new permitting process in line with Romania’s newly implemented EU legislation. However, by September 2003 the company had not submitted any new request for an environmental permit.
Miklós Persányi now wishes to receive information from the competent Romanian authorities on whether there have been any changes regarding the permitting process of the investment and whether the news published in Krónika , a Hungarian newspaper based in Romania, are accurate.
The Hungarian Ministry of Environment repeatedly expressed concerns about the planned gold mine and the technology applied, which in case of an environmental catastrophe, could expose the Romanian catchment area of the Tisza river to toxic materials. In the bilateral agreement on transboundary waters, ratified by Hungary and Romania, both parties accepted to closely cooperate to prevent, mitigate, minimize and control harmful causes; including occasional and exceptional pollution.
Miklós Persányi today requested to personally receive as soon as possible actual information regarding the current state of the planned gold mine. (The trip of Miklós Persányi to Rosia Montana was cancelled by his Romanian counter part last year; quoting difficulties of preparation. Due to the latest reorganization within the Romanian government the environmental ministry has been reorganized and the appointment of the new minister is in process.)
The Hungarian Minister of Environment and Water today asked the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request an urgent explanation regarding the current state of the Rosia Montana mine project from Romania’s Embassy in Budapest.

For the original Hungarian version, please visit the Hungarian Ministry of Environment’s website on http://www.kvvm.hu/hirek/hirek.php?id=419