Green groups attack Via Baltica

Environmental groups will next week make a last ditch attempt to block plans for a road from Poland to Finland which they say threatens dozens of bird and animal species.

The 'Via Baltica' linking Warsaw and Helsinki is a road project partly funded by the EU as part of the trans-European transport networks (TENs). Plans for a section of the road to cross a natural wilderness in north-east Poland have, however, led to protests from environmentalists.

With Poland preparing to start building the road in September, conservation groups are working to delay construction until an alternative route has been found.

"Only a statement from the Polish national court could stop things at this stage," said Malgorzata Znaniecka from the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (OTOP), "but what we can do is delay the procedure."

"We will appeal at every step," she continued. "Then we count on action from the European Commission."

Together with environmentalists Birdlife International, WWF, Bank-watch, and Polska Zielona Siec, OTOP is preparing an update on the situation for the Commission which it says it will send before 5 August. The five groups will ask the Commission to speed up investigations into a complaint lodged by environmentalists against the Via Baltica plans in January.

OTOP says species at risk from the road plans include eagles, wolves, otters and woodpeckers. They will ask the Commission to make Poland stop construction until a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the road plans has been completed and a full assessment of an alternative route has been carried out.

"This is almost the last moment, but we are sure it is not too late," said Znaniecka.

A Polish diplomat said the environment ministry had been involved in all the Via Baltica plans. "We are prepared to do this in the proper way and have properly considered the nature situation," he explained.

He added that the Via Baltica would divert traffic from a dangerous road going through a city in the region, on which 50 people were killed and 128 injured in the last 15 years. The new road would also stop almost 1.5 million lorries a year going through the city, he said.

"Jerzy Polaczek [the Polish transport minister] has explained that we must not respect nature more than we respect human beings," concluded the diplomat.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is to meet the green groups and discuss their complaint in September.

Environmental groups will next week make a last ditch attempt to block plans for a road from Poland to Finland which they say threatens dozens of bird and animal species.