Adriatic countries together in fight against oil drilling

The S.O.S. for Jadran(Adriatic) has today, in Split, (27.10.2015) gathered the representatives of environmental organizations and civic initiatives from Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Italy to launch a joint platform for the protection of the Adriatic from oil pollution.

Since in all of these countries we are facing the same scenarios served by political elites and oil corporations, we have decided to launch a joint struggle to preserve the entire Adriatic Sea from destruction.

“The threats to the Adriatic we face across national borders can only be successfully solved on an international level because the Adriatic is one and commonly and its assets can only be used to protect ecological processes and systems at the same time,” said biologist Mosor Prvan of Association Sunce from Split.

The same rhetoric is used by governments in all the Adriatic countries, emphasized Mattia Lolli, of the Italian environmental association Legambiente.
“They tell you in Croatia that you have to start drilling oil because we do the same in Italy and in Italy, we are told that we have to do this because Croatia does. What they do not tell you is that there is a huge anti-oil well in Italy, gathering not only environmental organizations, but also local institutions, fishermen, farmers, churches and many others. As a result, more than 60,000 people are gathered in the protests, “Lolli concluded.

The mobilization of citizens in Italy has concrete results. Thanks to the pressure and work of the Italian anti-oil well, 10 regional governments have submitted requests for a national referendum, seeking amendments to harmful laws and already filing complaints with the European Commission.

On the other hand, in Montenegro, the public was not even informed about their government’s plans on the Adriatic.
“The process of exploration and exploitation of oil from the Adriatic is taking place in the same way in all countries, ultimately non-transparent and without adequate public information. The moment when citizens are getting the right information on the impact of oil research on their health and environment, their opinion is important, as the latest research shows, “said Nataša Kovačević from the Green Home Montenegrin association.

Coalition S.O.S. for Jadran (Adriatic) has commissioned a survey on the Adriatic oil field survey conducted in mid-October by Ipsos Puls on a sample of 1000 respondents from all over Croatia. To the question “are you for or against the exploration and exploitation of oil in the Adriatic?” 49.4% of citizens were against, 37.9% were for oil drilling, while 12.7% do not know. Particular opposition was expressed by the respondents from Dalmatia where the ratio was 56% against drilling and 31% for.

“The latest poll shows that half of the citizens are against the drilling of the Adriatic and just over a third if for the drilling. A year ago, the situation was reversed. What has happened in the meantime was informing of the citizens about this topic with the help of associations, as well as other initiatives and prominent individuals. This result is a victory for all of us, “concluded Zoran Tomić, head of Greenpeace in Croatia.

Coalition S.O.S. for Jadran (Adriatic) invites you all to the event “Partying against drilling”, which includes the exhibition of winning photos from the competition “Who can pay that”. The festival will take place at the Quasimodo club in Split starting at 20:00, which we wish to celebrate the victories with.