The European Commission has expressed its opposition to the construction of a hydropower plant on the Vjosa River. MEP Ulrike Lunacek said in an interview for ABC News that the Albanian government must be convinced that the destruction of the Vjosa River will cost Albania dearly.
The risk of the destruction of the Vjosa river through the Pocem project has been brought to the attention of the Parliament and the European Commission during the conference organized by the vice-president of the green group of the European Parliament, Ulrike Lunaček entitled “Balkan rivers, a European natural heritage in danger” . After a special amendment in Knut Fleckenstein’s resolution of April 14, 2016 for the protection of Vjosa as a national park, the intervention of MEP Ulrike Lunaçek in the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and with the Albanian authorities after the cruise that Lunaçek himself carried out on the Vjosa river , where it is known for the great values of biodiversity, ecotourism and the history of the area around the river, this time the risk of destruction of Vjosa is presented as a special concern to the European Commission:
Ulrike Lunaçek, Vice-President of the EP: “It is important to convince the Albanian government that the entire Vjosa river can be saved without building hydropower plants and that Albania can have the necessary energy even without these hydropower plants. There are other alternatives, there are other solutions.
You can find the full article published by ABCnews.al here.
