Taraba: Environment Ministry Will Require Investors to Comply with EU Standards

Bratislava, October 30 (TASR) - The Environment Ministry's priorities will include not only the development of nature, but of employment as well, and so the ministry will require investors to comply strictly with EU standards, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba has said in a video on Facebook. "We will no longer do in Slovakia what was the trend previously under NGOs and activists - that there were much stricter standards than the EU directive standard. The Environment Ministry will protect nature, but we will not look at humans as something that is the biggest threat to nature," said the minister. Taraba claimed that the ministry will be open to any kind of cooperation because employment and economic performance are inherent in a modern society. He noted that countries with strong investment potential also have the highest levels of environmental protection. "I think this is the way for Slovakia as well," he remarked, adding that poor countries "plunder" the environment the most. The minister added that he's met the head of the Slovalco aluminum works in Ziar nad Hronom, who informed him about three options for expanding production. zel/df