Although the contamination has not yet reached the river's Hungarian section, Momentum MEP Anna Donáth is now urging government politicians of the two countries to finally take immediate action.Continue reading
LMP believes spending on environmental protection isn’t “money thrown out the window”, but goes toward “the protection of our present and future, our children and civilization”, the co-chair of the opposition party said at a press conference streamed on Facebook on Sunday.
Speaking on the International Day for Biological Diversity, Erzsébet Schmuck noted that over 90 percent of the natural floodplains of Hungarian rivers have been lost, while the biological diversity of natural protection areas is “slowly, but surely” on the decline.
She pointed to the “ecological catastrophe caused by human irresponsibility” on the Sajó river, which flows from Slovakia into Hungary, resulting in “the destruction of an entire ecosystem”.
She also said ladybug and swallow populations are “radically falling” because of “deforestation and a reduction in green areas because of environmental pollution, cities, roads, industrial plants and luxury investments”.
Schmuck said LMP politicians have tabled a number of proposals in parliament in the past decade that serve to protect the biological diversity of the Carpathian Basin.
“There isn’t much time left,” she warned, “The question is whether the current powers understand what is at stake”.
“When you’ve cut down the last tree, when you’ve caught the last fish, you’ll realise that you can’t eat money,” she added.
Featured photo by Attila Kovács/MTI