ZAGREB, March 7 (Hina) - The proposal by the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) that the agreement on the nuclear power plant Krsko be declared null and void on Friday divided party benches in the parliament - deputies of the ruling
coalition dismissed the proposal while the opposition said that ratifying the agreement would be wrong and detrimental to Croatia and that the document should be declared null and void and international arbitration requested.
ZAGREB, March 7 (Hina) - The proposal by the Croatian Social Liberal
Party (HSLS) that the agreement on the nuclear power plant Krsko be
declared null and void on Friday divided party benches in the
parliament - deputies of the ruling coalition dismissed the
proposal while the opposition said that ratifying the agreement
would be wrong and detrimental to Croatia and that the document
should be declared null and void and international arbitration
requested. #L#
"The agreement on Krsko is the worst failure of this government, and
those who took part in it and caused US$1billion of damage to
Croatia are responsible for it," said Anto Djapic of the Croatian
Party of Rights (HSP).
Djapic believes that the agreement must be annulled immediately and
international arbitration initiated as soon as possible, as
statute of limitations takes effect on July 1 2003.
Opposition deputies voiced suspicion that certain interests may be
behind the entire deal.
Ljubo Cesic Rojs, for example, reiterated accusations about
Slovene and Croatian officials, including Slovenia's former and
Croatia's incumbent premier, having divided 300 million dollars.
Opposition deputies wanted to know why the procedure to annul the
agreement had not been initiated on January 1, 2003, considering
that the Croatian parliament had agreed that it would consider the
possibility of declaring it null and void should Slovenia fail to
ratify it by the end of 2002.
"Slovenia is satisfied because it avoided arbitration, and Zagreb
made a mistake by giving Ljubljana the opportunity to score points
on a lost case," Damir Kajin of the Istrian Democratic Assembly
said.
Explaining its claim that the agreement on Krsko is detrimental to
Croatia, the opposition said that by ratifying it Croatia had
agreed to write off $300 million of Slovenia's debt for electricity
it failed to deliver, as well as bound itself to manage nuclear
waste, which before the signing of the agreement it had not been
obliged to do.
"The SDP believes that Croatia's position regarding Krsko in legal
terms is better with the ratified agreement, which explicitly
states that income from investments in Krsko will be divided 50:50.
The agreement provides for the legal protection of property and all
other rights based on our investments," said Mato Arlovic.
Mladen Godek of Libra claims that the annulment of the agreement
could bring into question the dignity of the Croatian parliament
and Croatia's international reputation as well as damage good
neighbourly relations with Slovenia.
Zeljko Glavan of the HSLS reacted fiercely to this, saying that
Godek's objections made him feel as if he was in the Slovene and not
Croatian parliament, which earned him a warning by the chairman of
the session.
(hina) rml sb