Hungarian wine region finds dark side of World Heritage status

A number of towns and villages in Hungary's famous wine region Tokaj-Hegyalja plan to withdraw from the title of World Heritage site because they say it hinders the creation of much-needed new jobs in the region, the mayors agreed on Wednesday.

The strict regulations associated to the title, which Tokaj received in 2002, prohibits the building of power stations and includes strict restrictions on the size of areas for industrial use, mayor of Szerencs Endrene Ronavolgyi said at a meeting of local representatives in Tallya.

New jobs in the region can only be created through industrial development, Ronavolgyi, of the governing Socialist Party, argued.

The mayors of 9 out of 28 towns and villages plan to submit the initiative to the meeting of local councils in December.

Janos Majer, the mayor of Tokaj who is also chairman of the Tokaj World Heritage Association, said in October that the attitude of the mayors critical of the scheme was "hysterical". Majer said that industrial complexes can be built as long as they do not do any harm to the natural assets of the region.

He insisted that successfully stimulating local economies depended on the imagination of local business leaders. Much state and European Union funding connected to the region's wine-growing programme has been used to develop attractions such as the Hungarian Language Museum, and many other projects only receive funding because of the heritage title, he said.

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