NATO radar runs into opposition in Hungary

Hungary's plans to host a NATO radar are being met with stiff resistance by locals who cite health and environmental fears. But their municipal representatives are seemingly yielding to government pressure. The radar station is to be built in Southern Transdanubia, on a site called Tübes Hill. The radar would be integrated into the NATO early warning defense system. NATO officially says it is indifferent to the exact location, as long as Hungary fulfills its obligations as a member state. Citizen groups are warning that the radar and the radiation it produces will endanger nearby natural habitats, human health and the water supply and hurt tourism. The planned radar was also criticized from the military point of view for its location at low height. Some even claim its original purpose goes back to the Balkans wars of the early 1990s when the region's geopolitics was considerably different. The proposed station would be located in a forested park area about a half a mile away from inhabited land and two and a half miles from the center of Pécs, a historic university town of 160,000 people which is part of the World Heritage List, and has been chosen as European Capital of Culture for 2010. Pécs is about 125 miles south of capital Budapest. Hungary's ruling socialist-liberal coalition claims the radar will protect the country's air space and help air traffic. The Defense Ministry says radiation will not harm local people. "Regulations say radiation levels will be safe, but they are not based on long-term experiments, and the radar could be here for 20 years," said Alex Solyom, an activist from the Civic Movement for the Mecsek, the hills and mountains surrounding Pécs. Following pressure from grassroots movements who gathered some 18,000 signatures against the radar station, 94 percent of Pécs's population voted against the station in a referendum on Mar. 4. The referendum may force the government to find a new location for the radar, and the Hungarian press speculates that discussions have already been held with NATO on this. But the 34 percent turnout prevents the referendum result from becoming legally binding. Through an official statement, the Defense Ministry said the apathy of 66 percent of Pécs's population meant "the overwhelming majority of voters saw no obstacle to the construction of the radar station." The mayor and the representatives of all parties in the local government had vowed to comply with the result of the referendum even if it failed to reach the 50 percent threshold. The locals' hopes were betrayed when on Mar. 23 the socialist-liberal majority in the city council rejected a resolution calling for modifications of local regulations which would have allowed for an immediate stop to the construction of the radar. Socialist councilors, while insisting they are not pleased with the project, decided to postpone their decision, and promised to try to convince the government to move the radar station back to the originally intended location, the nearby Zengo Hill. The Defense Ministry is entitled by law to grant itself permits, and has already initiated the necessary procedures with a view on beginning construction of the radar. The government claims it will uphold environmental standards and consult with local authorities in Pécs, but it has been criticized for failing to provide information, and for not holding consultations with either the public or NGOs. Previously the government intended to build the radar at the Zengo Hill, some nine miles away from Tübes Hill, but it backed down in February 2004 following strong pressure from environmentalist groups. Several activists, supported by Hungarian President Lászlo Solyom, were vindicated by the Supreme Court of Hungary, which declared that the location chosen for the radar was inappropriate as it would degrade the environment and negatively affect the quality of life of Hungarians. The environmentalists' action, with activists climbing the Zengo Hill peak and chaining themselves to trees, received unprecedented media attention in Hungary. But some in Pécs now feel abandoned by those who prevented the Zengo radar from materializing since the new location was announced in November 2005.