On Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Vienna, the annual assembly of the Austrian oil company OMV was held, where representatives of the coalition of S.O.S. for Adriatic, spoke to more than 1,000 shareholders to point out the detriment and inadmissibility of the oil exploration and exploitation project in the Adriatic, and called on OMV not to sign a contract with the Government of the Republic of Croatia.
During the meeting, several shareholders expressed concern in their speeches regarding the drilling of the Adriatic Sea for oil, which shows that there is no consensus about this project in the company itself. Representatives of the coalition of S.O.S. for the Adriatic have shown great opposition from the local community in Croatia as well as the fact that 74 percent of citizens want a referendum (source: Promotion plus agency, RTL survey released on April 6, 2015).
“It is very important to emphasize that 60% of citizens of Dalmatia are against this project. Also recently, two large counties – Šibenik-Knin and Dubrovnik-Neretva – said no to drilling the Adriatic. It is expected that many other counties and municipalities will do the same in the coming weeks, “said Enes Ćerimagić, a Dubrovnik citizen and an environmental lawyer from the Green Action, adding:” Dubrovnik’s character throughout the centuries was the focus on the future and with this project they want to, in a colonial manner, impose fossilized solutions from the last century. ”
Luka Tomac, campaign coordinator S.O.S. for the Adriatic from the Green Action commented on contracts with OMV and other concessionaires: “Following the campaign’s activities and the high public pressure, the signing of the contract has already been postponed for several months. We will continue preventing all legal and advocacy activities in order to stop the contract from signing. ”
Maruška Mileta from Hvar, also a climatic activist of the Green Action, called for a turnaround towards the renewed future, instead of the fossilized past. “The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate and even the Conservative World Bank say that 80 percent of proven reserves of fossil fuels need to remain underground if we want to prevent further catastrophic consequences of climate change. In the long run, this project is not a safe investment. ”
During the OMV Annual Meeting, activists of Croatian, Austrian and Hungarian Greenpeace, as well as activists of the Austrian Friends of the Earth (Global 2000) and Green Action, organized an action that featured the possible consequences of oil spills in the Adriatic.