The study will show to what degree the construction of the plant endangers the region, Fejérdy said. He added that it also has to be determined to what extent current Hungarian regulations can protect the region.
UNESCO must be informed before big developments are made at World Heritage sites. When the UNESCO World Heritage Centre was informed of the power plant project, it requested that Hungary's World Heritage National Commission submit an assessment of the Tokaj region.
The assessment will be discussed in mid-summer, according to plan, said Fejérdy. He declined to reveal any of the assessment's content.
Fejérdy also confirmed that Hungary is making preparations to submit applications for three more World Heritage site: the Ripa Pannonica (the Hungarian part of the Roman Limes Danubius line of enforcements along the Danube), the Art Nouveau buildings of the Hungarian architect Ödön Lechner and his contemporaries and the hydrothermal caves and thermal karst systems in Buda. The application for the Lechner buildings will probably be submitted in January 2009, and the application for the Ripa Pannonica a year later Fejérdy said.
Other sites in Hungary included on UNESCO's World Heritage List are the area of Budapest along the Danube, the Castle District and historic Andrássy Avenue, the area around Fertö, or Neusiedlersee, on Hungary's border with Austria, the Hortobágy National Park, better known as the "Puszta" in Hungarian, the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, the early Christian necropolis of Pécs and the famous Tokaj wine region. On UNESCO's World Heritage List of natural wonders are the caves of Aggtelek, which Hungary shares with Slovakia.
Source: Múlt-kor / Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
