site.btaGreens in European Parliament Welcome Supreme Court's Ruling on Pirin National Park

106 POLITICS - EUROPEAN GREENS - BULGARIA

Greens in European Parliament Welcome
Supreme Court's Ruling on
Pirin National Park


Brussels, January 17 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - The Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament Wednesday welcomed a ruling of Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court to overturn a government decision that would have allowed the building of an extension of ski resort infrastructure in a protected area of the Pirin National Park.

Ska Keller, the Green/EFA Group co-president, said: "We hope this ruling sets a new precedent in Bulgaria and Europe for stricter controls in protected areas. It's time we claimed our natural spaces back for the people rather than vested business interests."

Keller congratulated the Bulgarian Green Party, Zelenite, and "the thousands of protestors who turned out across Bulgaria and in parts of Europe against the building of unnecessary skiing infrastructure in one of Europe's protected areas".

The press release also quotes Borislav Sandov, co-chair of the Bulgarian Green Party, Zelenite, as saying that the ruling renewed their "faith in the rule of law in Bulgaria to work in the best interests of the people". LI/DD