Rospuda U-turn?

About 80 environmental activists from Greenpeace Poland have set up camp in the woods of the Rospuda river valley, claiming they will chain themselves to the trees if construction workers attempt to begin work on the Augustów bypass road, which is currently planned to pass through the heart of the valley.

The protest comes after Jan Szysko, Poland's Minister of the Environment, announced last week that the road's construction could commence.

The decision was made despite official objections from Stavros Dimas, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, who warned Poland that the Rospuda case could be brought before the European Court of Justice, which could fine Poland and block EU funds to Poland for other projects.

In response, Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński has asked the Central Anti-corruption Bureau to check the procedures for granting the building permit for the current project. In addition, Kaczyński proposed a referendum on the project that would be held among the inhabitants of Podlaskie voivodship.

Ecologists have Maria Kaczyńska, the wife of President Lech Kaczyński, on their side, who said in an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza that the Rospuda area is simply beautiful and building a road according to the current plan would be a "barbaric" act.

Several of Poland's ecology activists also revealed that they had purchased several plots of land located on the route of planned bypass road in December 2006. It has been announced that as land owners they would attempt to challenge the building permit in court.