Hlina: Slovakia Becoming Dumping Ground of Europe Thanks to Coalition and Taraba

Bratislava, January 7 (TASR) - Slovakia is becoming the dumping ground of Europe, opposition MP Alojz Hlina (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) has told TASR, accusing Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) and the entire coalition of contributing towards this. According to Hlina, the quality of the Environment Ministry is reflected in the fact that both the last law returned to Parliament by then President Zuzana Caputova and the first law returned by current President Peter Pellegrini were proposed by Taraba. Hlina noted that the minister pushed through the tree and bush reduction act, which he believes is illogical, as an environment minister should protect the countryside. "It's more like the logic of a businessman helping developers to reduce the cost of replacement planting," said Hlina. "Among the successes of his ministry we can include the fact that he [Taraba] provided Modra - the town from which he comes - with money from the government's reserve for a carpark by the memorial to the place where [Slovak poet] Ludovit Stur was shot. The most important thing in this country is that we can drive to the place where the memorial is located," said Hlina. He also accused Taraba's ministry of turning Slovakia into an incinerator for radioactive waste from all over Europe, with an incinerator for waste from Hungary set to be built in Bratislava. lin/df