Nuke Protests On Czech Border

The Czech Foreign ministry has asked the European Union to help end blockades at their borders with Austria, where right-wing politician Joerg Haider joined activists in protesting the startup of a Czech nuclear plant.

The plant, located some 31 miles north of the frontier has been a source of friction between the two neighboring nations for the past decade, but activists started blocking several border crossings when the plant was activated this week.

Czech deputy foreign minister Pavel Telicka handed a request to the EU's representative in Prague to help end the blockade that has trapped truckers and disrupted traffic on both sides of the border since Monday.

Speaking to about 2,000 protesters Friday, Haider threatened the issue not only of Temelin but also Slovenia's Krsko nuclear plant near the Austrian border, would be used as a test of whether the two eastern European countries are ready to join the EU.

"There can be no EU enlargement for the Czech Republic and Slovenia as long as the question of the nuclear plant is not resolved in our favor," Haider told protesters at the Wullowitz border crossing, the Austria Press Agency reported.

By late afternoon, 12 more border crossings in northeastern Austria had been blocked by protesters vowing to remain until Saturday afternoon.

Haider's far-right Freedom Party joined the Austrian coalition government in February, triggering diplomatic sanctions by the 14 other European Union members. They were lifted last month after an EU commission found Austria in compliance with EU standards of democracy and human rights.

Both the Czech Republic and Slovenia are among the frontrunners seeking admission into the EU, the continent's economic elite.

Also Friday, Czech President Vaclav Havel called for bilateral talks and denounced the blockade as counterproductive.

"There is no way the blockades can solve this problem," Havel's spokesman Ladislav Spacek said.

Work on the Temelin plant, a twin-reactor facility originally designed by the Soviets, was completed by a subsidiary of the Westinghouse Corporation, and guaranteed with financing by the U.S. Export Import Bank, a taxpayer-supported entity. According to the Czech Power Company, it is the largest power plant in the country.