Environmental activists hold press conference outside Serbian Parliament

Activist Marijana Mutavcieva said their activities started over a years ago, that they first turned to the state institutions for help, then went out into the streets and ended up in the woods.

She said she was addressing the people from outside instead of from inside “the home of all citizens of the Republic of Serbia” to tell them what the people assembled around the Sordos Survivor Camp are demanding from the Mayor of Novi Sad and other state institutions.

Environmental activists have been protesting against the construction of a bridge across the Danube in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad. The construction site is surrounded by woods which environmental activists have warned will be cut down.

Mutavcevic read out the activists’ demands that include a request for the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to show its permits for the beginning of construction work on the bridge across the Danube and the project design.

The Novi Sad Mayor was also asked to make public the agreement signed with the CRBC, while the inspectorate is requested to inspect the construction site and establish if the construction work that began on Tuesday is legal, as there was no information board on site.

Among others, further demands also include an investigation into whether the cutting of trees at the Sordos site on June 11 was a case of deforestation, to identify and punish those responsible for this, while the public company Urbanizam is asked to present an environmental impact assessment.

Sordos Survivor Camp activists, who have been trying for days to prevent the cutting of trees and construction works at the Sordos site in Novi Sad, invited citizens to a protest entitled Novi Sad Liberation Day scheduled for October 23, reported portal 021.