DEAL TO HELP PUBLICISE INFORMATION ABOUT YUGOSLAV ENVIRONMENT
Citizens in the Republic of Serbia will be able to receive more information on the quality of their environment, and could eventually receive daily updates in the mass media about this information, thanks to a June 4 agreement between specialists in monitoring the environment, a major broadcasting firm and the Belgrade office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). "This agreement will enable efficient flow of environmental information between relevant stakeholders but will also ensure efficient informing of the general public about the quality of the environment in the Republic of Serbia," according to a press release from the REC Country Office Yugoslavia. 

The agreement provides for close cooperation between the Hydrometeorological Institute of Republic of Serbia, Studio B Radio and Television Broadcasting Company, the Environmental Documentation, Information and Media Center and the REC Country Office Yugoslavia. "We expect that this activity, the first of its kind in our country, will significantly increase access to environmental information by decision-makers and the public . and facilitate in-country exchange of environmental information," the release said. It added that, in the future, the cooperation could mean that assessments of the quality of Yugoslavia's environment -- taken directly from air, soil and water monitoring stations -- could be published in the mass media daily.
Contact:
Dr Radoje Lausevic, director, REC Country Office Yugoslavia
tel: (381-11) 3061-715 or (381-11) 3061-716; e-mail: rlausevic@recyu.org
web: http://www.recyu.org

POPE AND PATRIARCH SIGN DECLARATION URGING PROTECTION OF ADRIATIC
An inter-faith campaign to reduce pollution in the Adriatic was launched June 10, when Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope John Paul signed a declaration urging countries bordering that sea to protect the environment, according to a report from Reuters. During a tour of especially polluted areas around Durres, Albania, Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide who is known as the "Green Patriarch" for his work to protect the environment, addressed religious leaders, politicians and scientists before the signing of the "Venice Declaration," according to Reuters. "We come from many nations, ethnicities, faiths and professional commitments to join with the people of the Adriatic in the interest of preserving the blessings of the natural world," Bartholomew was quoted as saying. "We are responsible not only for our actions but for the consequences of our interventions." 
Contact:
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople: http://www.patriarchate.org/visit/html/environment.html; or the Vatican
tel: (39-06) 698-921; web: http://www.vatican.va

RUSSIA WOULD COMPLETE WORK ON BULGARIA'S BELENE NUKE PLANT
Russia's Atomic Energy minister said his country would be interested in completing construction of a nuclear power plant at Belene, Bulgaria, according to a June 3 report from Reuters. "Russia is interested in the construction of the new power plant, and we will offer our projects to the Bulgarian side. We are aware that there will be competition," Russia's Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev was quoted as saying. "We are building new reactors in China, Iran and India, all of which are in full compliance with the international (safety and technical) requirements. 

Once Bulgaria announces its parametres, Russia will be ready to take part." Now that it is planning to close the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, Bulgaria is considering restarting work on the Belene project, which was about 40 percent completed when it was abandoned in 1990, after concerns about the environment and the costs. Sofia agreed to close Kozloduy's two oldest reactors by 2003, and the other two reactors by 2010, as a condition for starting European Union membership talks in 1999. But Bulgaria wants to maintain its position as the main energy exporter in South Eastern Europe, and it is in competition with neighbouring EU member Greece. 
Contact:
Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee, tel: (359-2) 720-217; or the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters Press Office tel: (359-2) 940-6231; 
or Bulgarian Environment Minister Dolores Arssenova, tel: (359-2) 940-6222; web: http://www.moew.government.bg; or the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy, tel: (7-095) 239-2254; web: http://www.minatom.ru/english/

WWF REPORT NOTES THREATS TO NATURAL TREASURES OF CARPATHIAN RANGE
The conservation organisation WWF announced in a June 5 press release that it has released a new report warning that European Union accession may increase the already growing human pressures on the "outstanding natural richness of the Carpathian Mountains." Entitled "The Status of the Carpathians," the report "represents the first-ever overall view of the unique natural and cultural richness" of the Carpathian range, which touches seven countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine, the release said. "The Carpathians are home to 481 plant species that are found nowhere else in the world. Furthermore, they are Europe's last region (outside Russia) to support vast tracks of virgin forest, as well as the largest populations of Brown bears, wolves, lynx, European bison, and threatened bird species, including the imperial eagle," the release said. "But the report also stresses the low public and political awareness about this biological and cultural wealth, which is increasingly threatened by pollution, deforestation, hunting, and habitat fragmentation, as well as increased poverty due to drastic economic changes since transition." The report also found that, despite the potential benefits of EU accession, "EU policies and projects may actually worsen threats to this region, especially the Common Agricultural Policy and proposed road networks," according to the press release. More information and a copy of the report is available at: http://www.carpathians.org/launch/ 
Contact: 
Paul Csagoly, Communications Manager, WWF International Danube Carpathian Programme, tel.: (36 30) 250-5869; e-mail: pcsagoly@wwfdcp.org.

EIB LENDS CZECHS EUR 60M FOR FLOOD PROTECTION PROJECTS
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a EUR 60 million loan to the Czech Republic for projects designed to prevent the kind of serious flood damage that the country has suffered in the past few years, according to a June 3 press release from the EIB. "The loan to the Czech Republic will be used by its Ministry of Agriculture to finance, through its River basin Boards and other relevant bodies, a number of schemes, mostly within the river basins of the Morava, Elbe and Oder. The loan helps financing integrated flood protection measures along these rivers and their tributaries, including dikes, weirs, diversification channels and retention reservoirs," according to the press release from the EIB, which describes itself the European Union's financing arm. "In 1997 the Czech Republic saw the worst floods in more than 100 years, affecting half a million of its 10 million population; including recurrent floods up to 2001, the losses amounted to 72 deaths and EUR 2.1 billion of material damages." 
Contact:
Max Messner, EIB, tel: (352-4) 379-3150; e-mail: m.messner@eib.org
web: http://www.eib.org

LITHUANIA AGREES TO 2009 CLOSURE OF IGNALINA PLANT
Dropping previous demands that the European Union fund the full cost of shutting down its Ignalina nuclear power plant, Lithuania agreed June 10 to close the second reactor at the plant by 2009, according to reports. "The EU has said that until you fix a concrete date, negotiations on financing and other related matters will not take place," Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas was quoted by Reuters as saying. Lithunian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis and EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen formalised the agreement in Luxembourg on June 11, and Lithuania was thereafter able to close the "energy chapter" of its European Union negotiations, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 

The EU had demanded a date for the closure of the Ignalina nuclear facility, which had a similar design to the Chernobyl plant, as a condition for Lithuania's accession negotiations, but Lithuania, the most nuclear dependent country in the world, said it could not afford the estimated EUR 2.4 billion cost of closure. The EU had offered EUR 70 million a year, between 2004-2006 and committed EUR 40 million to an international fund that would give a total of EUR 203 to help defray closure costs. The agreement, signed June 11, says the EU recognises the huge cost of closing the plant and is "ready to continue to provide adequate additional community assistance to the decommissioning effort" once Lithuania joins the EU. 
Contact:
Lithuanian Environment Ministry, tel: (370-2) 610-588 or Dr. Stasys Motiejunas, Lithuanian Ministry of Environment, Radioactive Substances Unit, tel: (370-2) 611-110; 
e-mail: s.motiejunas@aplinkuma.lt

GREENPEACE TO SUE FOR ACCESS TO REPORT ON TEMELIN NUKE PLANT
Saying that it has been denied repeated requests to see the report of the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) about a safety inspection at the Temelin nuclear power plant, Greenpeace announced June 6 that it would take the matter to the High Court in Prague. According to a press release from Greenpeace, they were informed by a Temelin worker in summer of 2000 that "one of the main cooling pipes to the reactor of block 1 was welded 180 degrees wrong, cut loose and re-welded." In the press release, Greenpeace charged that the repair was illegal, and that "documentation was changed to cover up this illegal repair." 

The press release said that, in 2001, "SUJB inspectors finished a study into the case, but instead of publishing this, SUJB commissioned Temelin operator CEZ with a new study. This study addressed welding problems in general but failed to physically test the welding seam indicated by Greenpeace's witness." According to the Greenpeace press release, the organisation was denied access to the original report despite repeated requests. The release also said that the material contained in the report could reveal that the plant is not safe or ready to operate. "If we see the efforts with which SUJB tries to wipe the whole affair under the carpet, we have no other choice than to call in the help of the High Court," Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace Campaign Director in the Czech Republic, was quoted as saying. 
Contact:
Haverkamp, tel (420-2) 2431-9667 or (420-60) 356-9243 
e-mail: jan.haverkamp@cz.greenpeace.org 
web: http://www.greenpeace.cz/temelin/index.htm or Pavel Pitterman, press office, Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety, tel: (420-2) 2162-4363
e-mail: press@sujb.cz

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS AT TEMELIN CAUSE REDUCTIONS IN OUTPUT
A faulty sensor triggered an automatic shutdown on June 11 at the controversial Temelin nuclear-power plant in the Czech Republic, and a leak in the generator on June 12 forced workers to reduce the output of the reactor to just 3 percent, according to a report from the Associated Press. Plant spokesman Milan Nebesar reportedly said that workers were able to replace the faulty voltage sensor, but the leak discovered on June 12 forced a major reduction in the output of the plant's unit 1 reactor. The malfunction came less than two days after the unit went into final testing and began running at 100 percent capacity, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Nebesar reportedly said it is too early to know how long the shutdown will last. 
Contact:
Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety, tel: (420-2) 2162-4363
e-mail: press@sujb.cz

REC OFFERS TRAINING FOR YOUNG ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS
Applications are being accepted for a training programme for young environmental leaders, to take place between Aug. 26-Sept. 22 at the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), according to an announcement from the Center. The REC's programme, held in Szentendre, Hungary, is intended "to improve the capacity and skills of young environmentalists from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS)," according to their web site. "The programme is designed to develop: management capabilities; abilities to overcome cultural and national differences through intensive work in a multicultural environment; knowledge of new approaches and solutions to environmental problems; and training skills. 

Participants follow a four-week program of integrated and interactive workshops which address the particular needs of the region and its younger NGO members, with training in fields like: NGO and project management, campaign strategy, media-work, communication skills, fundraising, public participation in environmental decision-making, business plans for NGOs, NGOs and civil society, new approaches to solving environmental problems and much more." Applicants should be between 20 and 30 years old, be active in an environmental NGO, speak English and have citizenship in an NIS or CEE country. The application deadline is July 12. For more information, contact Adriana Craciun, e-mail: ACraciun@rec.org
web: http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/JFellows.html

NGOs ORGANISE FILMS, TALKS IN BUDAPEST IN PROTEST OF WORLD BANK POLICIES
Several non-governmental organisations are cooperating to put together two days of films, discussions and a demonstration in protest of the environmental and social impacts of the investments of the World Bank, to be held June 19-20 in Budapest, at the time that World Bank officials are to visit the city. According to a statement from one of the organisers: "We are criticising the World Bank for continuing to fund projects which are locking both developing and transition countries into environmentally and socially destructive development, and are focussed on the fact that this type of development has so far proved disastrous for the poor, those who the World Bank is claiming to help .

It's ridiculous that the bank, with its sustainable development mandate, is still funding projects which lock countries into fossil fuel based development. The bank has invested USD 7 billion in these kind of projects over the last decade, and has made no significant investment in alternative energy in the region." The work of the World Bank, and objections to it, are to be outlined in films and discussions. During the gathering, members of communities in Central and Eastern Europe that are adversely impacted by mining operations are to meet to form a network to work together. The two days of films and discussions at the Kultiplex in Budapest, Kinizsi u. 28. is to begin 9:30 am on June 19, feature a demonstration and march through the city on June 20, and continue on into the evening of June 20, when it ends with a party and local DJs. 
Contact:
Energiaklub, tel: (361) 209-7223 or (361) 386-8090; or Kultiplex (the venue)
tel: (361) 476-0116

NEW QUARTERLY ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION SEEKS CONTRIBUTOR
A new quarterly called "Applied Environmental Education & Communication: An International Journal" and published by Taylor & Francis, is seeking a contributor from Central and Eastern Europe to write about how journalists in the region are covering potential risks to chemical and nuclear plants in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. The contributor would be asked to write a 1,200-word, English-language essay for the journal's forum, with a deadline of September, according to an e-mail from the quarterly. To find out more about the quarterly, which covers environmental journalism and education, see their web site at: http://www.aeec.org To send a query about contributing, send an e-mail to Julia Brooks at: AEEC@aed.org; tel: (1-202) 884-8072.

EARTH NEGOTIATIONS BULLETIN SEEKS WRITER WITH LEGAL BACKGROUND
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin has announced that it is looking for a writer with a legal background to join their Climate Change Writing Team. According to the announcement, the candidate should have a law degree, have experience working with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and possess excellent writing, comprehension and editing skills in English. To apply, send a CV and cover letter to: kimo@iisd.org
See the Earth Negotiations Bulletin at: http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/voltoc.html