The planned NATO radar facility on Tubes Hill near Pecs, S Hungary, raises legal problems, environmental ombudsman Sandor Fulop told MTI after talks with civil opponents of the scheme on Wednesday.
Fulop said that preparations for the project should have included an environmental impact study. He added that the current plans were not consistent with effective regulations on protecting the water base.
He said that since insufficient information on the radar’s potential radiation emissions was available, the project’s designers should do more to provide guarantees.
“As long as we are not hundred percent sure that a project is harmless, further research is needed or the project should be abandoned,” Fulop said.
The execution of plans to construct the radar station on Tubes Hill was suspended by a court ruling in March last year. Early in May, dozens of NGOs, private individuals and the Pecs municipal council filed lawsuits against the Defence Ministry with the aim of stopping the radar plans.
Tubes is the second site after the nearby Zengo peak to be contested by greens as the location of the planned radar facility, which defence officials have said is essential for Hungary’s security.
