"Italy is resolutely going on with activities aimed at the construction of the terminals beside the Slovene border, while the Slovene government has not yet done anything to protect the Slovene geo-strategic interests," the LNG chief, Jelko Kacin, wrote in an open letter urging his party's parliamentary deputies to propose this issue for the parliament's agenda as soon as possible.
Italy is planning to build an LNG terminal in the middle of Trieste Bay, and the other one only two kilometres away from the border with Slovenia. The Slovene government has already asked Rome to give an explanation and present a study about the terminals' impact on the environment in the area including the environment of the neighbouring countries.
Slovene Environment Protection and Zoning Minister Janez Podobnik has, however, admitted that it will be difficult to prevent the project, given that the preparations are well underway for its implementation.
Some environmental associations and Slovene President Janez Drnosek have recently raised their voice against the project which the Spanish companies Endesa and Gas Natural are planning to carry out in cooperation with Italian authorities.
Some Slovenes fear that the terminals would affect the local tourism and the quality of liife of the local population.