Adriatic Oil Drilling…Referendum!

By Clean Adriatic Sea Alliance

In a huge victory for those in the fight to preserve the cleanliness and health of the Adriatic sea, a referendum on the issue as been announced. As reported on RTL yesterday, Prime Minister Zoran Milanović has stated that we are going to a referendum!

Questions

As much joy and optimism this brings, believing that the people of Croatia will finally have a say. It also means that everyone needs to double down on their efforts to stop oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the Adriatic Sea.

Would the Croatian Government, who has invested so much time and money in support of drilling give in so easily if they didn’t think they can win and shut down the opposition?

As the website SOSzaJadran points out, we need to ensure that quality information is passed to the public such that they can make an educated and informed decision.

What will we be voting on? Will is be a total ban on Adriatic oil drilling? Will the scope be limited only to drilling in the Adriatic sea while ignoring land-based exploitation?

How will this affect on-going contract negotiations with initial winners of the bidding process?

Has the Croatian Government recognized the folly of this plan, and is perhaps looking for an elegant way to bow out?

Keep up the momentum

Now more than ever, is the time to join in and works towards stopping Adriatic oil drilling. There are numerous ways a places where you can join up with groups united against this. Visit clean-adriatic.org to sign up for the mailing list. If you are a Croatian speaker soszajadran.hr and their Facebook page is a great reference spot as well as this Facebook group Dobri Duhovi Jadrana.

It’s time to get ready to vote. Make persuasive arguments to your friends and neighbors and convince them to vote. Bust out your inner artist and make flyers and posters expressing your view.

In order to pass, a referendum needs only the support of the majority of voters. Let’s do this!