BULGARIA: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Danube contamination unlikely
Record ID:
560515
BULGARIA: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Danube contamination unlikely
- Title: BULGARIA: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Danube contamination unlikely
- Date: 14th October 2010
- Summary: SOFIA, BULGARIA (OCTOBER 8, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF GOVERNMENT OFFICE SIGN READING: "COUNCIL OF MINISTERS" POLICE OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT OFFICE BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER BOIKO BORISOV MEETING HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN, SHAKING HANDS MEDIA FILMING START OF NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PHOTOS (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "Let me say thank you to the prime minister of Bulgaria, who was the first to offer us help in order to contain the damage of the huge catastrophe we have experienced.'' MEDIA FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "We managed to contain the damage and most probably there will be no contamination of the Danube, even on Hungarian territory." CAMERA CREWS FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "Hungary wants to stand firmly on its own two feet and needs the Hungarian economy to support itself with its own resources." MEDIA TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, BOIKO BORISOV, SAYING: "We agreed that we should give firm support to Croatia to join EU as soon as possible." MEDIA FILMING ORBAN AND BORISOV LEAVING AT END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 29th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Bulgaria
- Country: Bulgaria
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Nature / Environment
- Reuters ID: LVABRBS6M2KNHW746TMA80SEPT2
- Story Text: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he believed it was unlikely that a toxic spill in his country would result in the contamination of the Danube River.
Orban was speaking as he met with his Bulgarian counterpart Boiko Borisov in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on Friday (October 8).
Hungary declared a state of emergency in three counties on Tuesday (October 5) after the sludge -- waste from bauxite refining that has a strong caustic effect -- hit three villages west of Budapest. Five people were killed and more than 150 injured in the disaster.
Speaking at a news conference after his meeting with Borisov, Orban said he was grateful to Bulgaria for its quick offer of assistance in the spill's aftermath.
"Let me say thank you to the prime minister of Bulgaria, who was the first to offer us help in order to contain the damage of the huge catastrophe we have experienced,'' he said.
Downstream from the disaster site, the River Danube flows through or skirts Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian territory en route to the Black Sea.
On Thursday (October 7) toxic red sludge reached the Danube, but on Friday Hungarian officials said pollution levels had subsided and there was no risk of a biological or environmental catastrophe.
"We managed to contain the damage and most probably there will be no contamination of the Danube, even on Hungarian territory," Orban said.
Turning to the economy, Orban said he would like to see an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to Hungary paid off in the next 3-4 years.
"Hungary wants to stand firmly on its own two feet and needs the Hungarian economy to support itself with its own resources," he said when asked if Hungary would seek further credit from the IMF.
The daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet reported on Friday that Hungary's economy minister and central bank governor may explore the idea of setting up a new precautionary credit line in talks with the IMF in Washington, the daily Magyar Nemzet reported.
Hungary's talks with the IMF on reviewing a 20 billion euro ($26 billion) deal, which saved the country from financial meltdown in 2008, collapsed in July.
Budapest has said repeatedly that it would not seek a new programme when the current one expires this month.
But the paper, which did not name its sources, said on Friday that Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy and central bank Governor Andras Simor would seek information about a new type of IMF credit line created in August.
The paper added, however, that the Economy Ministry had firmly denied that this would be the case.
Orban and Borisov said they had also discussed Croatia's European Union membership aspirations.
"We agreed that we should give firm support to Croatia to join EU as soon as possible," Borisov said.
Croatia began entry talks in 2005 and is still hopeful of joining the bloc in two years time despite having further work to do reforming its legal system. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None