Roxana Jipa

BUCHAREST / PAZARDZHIK —  The green transition is not necessarily a clean one. The European frenzy for green energy projects, and the massive funds assigned for this process generated a chaotic battle for agricultural lands in Romania and Bulgaria, countries particularly vulnerable to corruption risks.  

BUCHAREST - For almost 9 years, Romania has been criticised and monitored by the European Commission for allowing the large-scale destruction of several mountain rivers for the purpose of building micro-hydropower plants, without complying with the Water Framework and Habitats Directives.

LELESTI - For years they inhaled it. Former workers of the asbestos-cement factories in Romania worked without any protection against the toxic dust. Except a milk ratio. It was supposed to protect against cancer and toxicity, or so they believed during communism. Long privatized and shut down, the factories still have their marks on people’s lungs. The diseases appear decades after the exposure.