Urgent Remediation of Ecocide in Lika Crucial for Citizens' Health, Not a Political Vendetta
As public outrage grows, the urgent cleanup of PFAS contamination in Gospić and its surroundings is critical, with political accountability to follow.
As public outrage grows, the urgent cleanup of PFAS contamination in Gospić and its surroundings is critical, with political accountability to follow.
The ecocide in Lika, centered on Gospić, has become the most severe scandal of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's decade-long rule. Alongside the Borg affair and the Beroš case, this is the third blow that could leave the politically shaken HDZ without a serious chance in the next elections, which are not scheduled until 2028, as reported by Telegram.hr on August 12, 2026.
The fervor with which the opposition has attacked the government is understandable, but it's not merely a political opportunity. There is justified concern for the health and prospects of the residents of Gospić and surrounding areas, as well as other parts of the country, given that the waste management system has clearly collapsed entirely.
Public pressure, stronger than ever before, should primarily be directed at forcing Plenković's bureaucracy to carry out urgent remediation. The alarming findings from the Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, along with harrowing testimonies from the field about water smelling of burnt plastic, have been dragging through disinterested labyrinths of state administration for too long.
Remediation must begin immediately, urgently, before the damage becomes even greater and more dangerous. "Start with the urgent, most urgent procedures. Now. Yesterday," urges the author of the article on Telegram.
In such a dramatic situation, sending Krunoslav Capak to reassure the public about the state of water in Gospić has been deemed a fantastic move, but in an ironic sense. Capak is an HDZ member and a former key figure in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a fight often waged strictly along the lines of the ruling party's interests.
An additional problem is that the Croatian Institute of Public Health, whose findings Capak presented, cites data from April 2026. Regular and long-term water testing must be conducted across the entire territory, and this responsibility must be taken up by individuals in whom the public has at least basic trust.
Due to the terrain configuration, the malignant PFAS threatens the watercourses of Otočac, Senj, Rab, and Pag. And the question of whether Gospić is the only case is increasingly likely. The same company disposed of waste in Benkovac and Varaždin as well. As reported by Jutarnji list, preliminary findings in Benkovac are similar to those in Lika.
Local activists have been warning for years about potentially problematic landfills, mostly without excessive public interest. At this point, everyone is frightened and will justifiably demand that landfills near them be inspected and, if necessary, urgently remediated.
This is a massive and expensive undertaking. Just the remediation of Gospić will cost taxpayers at least 50 million euros. And this should be the first edge of public and political pressure on the current government.
"Heads will have to roll, but the priority is something else," reads the article's headline. After securing urgent remediation, accountability must be sought. From this dangerous and costly mess, few from the entire vertical of power should escape by pretending the situation is normal, with insulting spin and hiding behind the 'fall guys' that will, no doubt, be thrown overboard at some point.
