Thousands protest in Croatia to demand government clean up toxic waste
Al Jazeera
β’Sat, 05 Sep 2026 18:42:08 +0000
π° What Happened
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Croatia's capital, Zagreb, on September 5, 2026, demanding the government urgently clear a vast illegal dump of hazardous waste near the town of Gospic in the Lika region. Residents say more than 30,000 tonnes of medical and industrial waste buried at an abandoned industrial site is poisoning a once-pristine mountain area. It has become one of the largest protests Croatia has seen in years and has widened into a broader challenge to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's conservative government.
π The Backstory
The waste was illegally imported from elsewhere in the European Union from 2023 onwards and dumped outside Gospic, according to investigators. Police and Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, arrested 13 people in February over the scheme, which investigators said earned the suspects more than $4m before it was uncovered. Authorities have spent months failing to remove the waste, and opponents accuse the government of corruption and of covering up the true scale of the pollution.
π― Why It Matters
The crisis pits public health and environmental protection against a government that protesters accuse of delay and cover-up. It also illustrates a broader regional problem of illegal cross-border waste trafficking, and the outcome will be a test of whether mass public pressure can force an actual cleanup.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Croatia's capital, Zagreb, on September 5, 2026, demanding the government urgently clear a vast illegal dump of hazardous waste near the town of Gospic in the Lika region. Residents say more than 30,000 tonnes of medical and industrial waste buried at an abandoned industrial site is poisoning a once-pristine mountain area. It has become one of the largest protests Croatia has seen in years and has widened into a broader challenge to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's conservative government.
The waste was illegally imported from elsewhere in the European Union from 2023 onwards and dumped outside Gospic, according to investigators. Police and Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, arrested 13 people in February over the scheme, which investigators said earned the suspects more than $4m before it was uncovered. Authorities have spent months failing to remove the waste, and opponents accuse the government of corruption and of covering up the true scale of the pollution.
The crisis pits public health and environmental protection against a government that protesters accuse of delay and cover-up. It also illustrates a broader regional problem of illegal cross-border waste trafficking, and the outcome will be a test of whether mass public pressure can force an actual cleanup.