Environment minister: I won't approve the Rosia Montana project unless I'm 101% sure it won't pollute

The new Environment minister Laszlo Borbely declared that he was not going to approve the Rosia Montana project unless he was 101% sure that it would not produce pollution in Romania. In an interview for RFI, Borbely said that the issue was „technical and not political”.

„We have here, I hope, a technical problem, not a political issue. It was the Court of Appeal’s decision, which stopped the project in 2007 and the investor needed to re-start procedures. There is currently a local urban planning from what I know, it is being analysed, there is a mixed Romanian-Hungarian commission, many questions have been raised. What I can tell you is that we have a proper legislation, respecting the European Union directives. I will not approve this project unless I am 101% sure it would not bring any pollution to Romania”, the UDMR minister declared.

Asked if he was certain of it, Laszlo Borbely said he wasn’t: „No, not at the moment. Unfortunately, there have been some intentions triggered in the region, houses were sold in the area etc. etc. . But you know it very well that, unfortunately, the area was subjected to vices, even if this project would not start”.