ZAGREB – Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Croatia on Saturday, venting anger over what they say is the authorities’ months-long failure to remove a vast stockpile of illegally dumped hazardous waste that has raised alarm over serious environmental damage in the European Union member state.
The illegal waste scandal centered on the town of Gospic in central Croatia has intensified scrutiny of conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his government, adding to a wave of public frustration that has grown in recent weeks.
The case came to light last February, when Croatian police and Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, arrested 13 people suspected of unlawfully importing and dumping hazardous waste. Europol said at the time that the group was believed to have earned at least 4 million euros, or about $4.2 million, in illegal profits.
More than a year on, residents of Gospic remain deeply concerned that roughly 37,000 metric tons, or 40,000 U.S. tons, of waste left at an abandoned industrial site — much of it buried underground — could be putting their health at risk. The dumped material includes remnants of electronic equipment, plastics, construction debris and medical waste.
A specialist report released last month by Croatia’s anti-corruption agency, USKOK, found elevated concentrations of metals in soil at the site. The report also said PFAS compounds, often referred to as “forever chemicals,” had been detected in groundwater.
Saturday’s protest requested that authorities present a clear plan to urgently and completely remediate the polluted sites according to clearly defined deadlines. Protesters are also demanding an immediate ban on waste imports.
Vjekoslav Busic, from the “Gospic Is Our Home” initiative behind the protest, said that residents had been reporting what they believed was suspected illegal activity since 2023.
“The result to date: Not a single kilogram (pound) of hazardous waste has been removed from Gospic,” Busic said.
Protester Ivan Rittinger said that authorities “are talking about this as if it were a tragedy, as if it just happened out of nowhere. Rittinger said that “someone made money out of it and someone was paid to look the other way.”
“It was planned,” he said. “This is not a tragedy. This is a crime.”
MORE STORY: 16-Year-Old Faces Adult Charges in Lewis Place Shooting
USKOK said that it was investigating a Croatian company for allegedly burying illegal toxic waste at several sites across Croatia, with the largest amount found in Gospic. The government has said that the investigation is underway, as well as efforts to clear the area.
Authorities also have said that multiple water and soil tests in Gospic came out negative for contamination. The site will be temporarily covered to protect it from rainwater, one company has been chosen to clear some of the waste while a long-term plan is drafted.
Plenkovic has accused his political opponents of fueling panic for political gains.
Experts agree that the damage is at a local level. But they warn that the region’s karst terrain, loose soil and rivers could carry pollution from the site toward the Adriatic Sea.
The town of Gospic, which has around 12,000 residents, is located in a region close to a nature park and known for forests, lakes and rivers. The initial Europol report said that much of the waste that ended up in Gospic was imported from other EU nations Italy, Slovenia and Germany.
The protesters at the main square in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, shouted “Croatia, Croatia” as they carried national flags and banners reading “When if not now” or “The lungs of Croatia have trouble breathing.”
Zeljka Sikic from Gospic thanked the crowd for “coming out publicly, because it takes courage nowadays.” Sikic said “we have been handed over to eco-mafia.
Zagreb resident Suzane Maria Flander said that it’s a “basic human right to have clean soil, clean water and clean air.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.