Hundreds of thousands of signatures, calling for the protection of Rila Mountain submitted in the European Commission today

The participants submitted a petition, signed by 147 935 European citizens, calling upon the European Commission, European Parliament and the Bulgarian government to undertake strict measures in protection of Rila National Park in Bulgaria. For the action, the participants had an exhibition with images from Rila, banners, costumes and a lot of determination to bring the Rila case to the fore in Europe.

To the big surprise of the action organizers, the petition was received by the Environmental Commissioner Dimas himself, who in the first place could not attend the event. Mr. Dimas and the member of his cabinet Mr. Quinn, received the petition and stressed that the Bulgarian government has to comply with its legal obligations. If the Bulgarian state drags on building in its Natura 2000 territories, it is very likely that the Polish Rospuda story will repeat in Bulgaria, Mr Quinn explained.

In the former case, the state of Poland initiated the building of a high-way through an important Natura 2000 territory. The Commission repeatedly warned the country about the legal consequences of damaging European protected areas, which was apparently ignored by the Polish government. Eventually, the European Commission asked the European Court of Justice to take measures ensuring that Poland does not start with the construction of a high-way that creates irreversible damage to the Rospuda Valley. What is more, the measure could prevent the start of the building works until the Court has had time to rule on the case brought in March.

This simply means that the Commission CAN play a very similar role in the RILA case!! This event was a big push towards this goal.