Hungary, Slovakia to prepare joint study on controversial dam

Hungary and Slovakia agreed on Tuesday to start a joint strategic environmental study of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam system, a controversial project along the River Danube, that runs between the two countries.

The agreement lays down a schedule for the study, the tasks of the body overseeing it and rules for the collection and exchange of information, Gyorgy Erdey, state secretary at Hungary's Environment Ministry said.

The body overseeing the study will start work within two weeks and the study will be completed by the end of 2009. Hungary will contribute 100 million forints toward covering the costs of the survey.

Gabriel Jencik, who signed the contract on behalf of Slovakia, said there are still disagreements on the way the dam project should be carried out.

Hungary and Slovakia singed a contract on the construction of the dam system, between the Slovak city of Gabcikovo and the Hungarian town of Nagymaros, in 1977, but when the environmental effects of the project became clear, Hungary protested the plan.

In 1989, Hungary shelved the project because of the stance of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the lack of an environmental impact study. In 1992, the case was brought before the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The court ruled that Hungary had illegally broken the 1977 contract on the dam system but Slovakia had also acted in breach of the law when it built a hydroelectric power plant in Gabcikovo.

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