Environmental injustice in Central and Eastern Europe

Injustice and inequality are one of the most problematic topics that a state can have. There are many types of inequalities, racial inequality being one of them. There is, in most of the cases, a correlation between inequality and injustice. Racism and injustice are present even when it comes to environmental policy.
Environmental racism is defined as a racial discrimination in environmental policy making. National minorities are often subjects of environmental injustice.
In the Unites States for example, 71% of African Americans and 50% of Latino Americans live in areas with the most polluted air compared to the 34% of white communities; and the problem is not stopping here. But this topic is not that much taken in consideration in the European continent. Here, the lack of environmental justice and environmental racism is mostly to be found in Central part of Europe and the Eastern part. Similar to the United States, the hazardous sites and facilities are located and concentrated in places where working-class communities live and other communities of color. In Europe these communities are communities of ethnic minorities, in fact the Roma people. For example, in Hungary, in Heves, 1500 people belonging to Romany community, were exposed to high doses of lead as a consequence of illegal disassembly of car batteries. A 15 months old girl died.
Another example can be the Danube Dam project between Hungary and Slovakia. Ethnic Hungarians live on both sides of the river, in Slovakia and Hungary, and are exposed to environmental risks.
In Slovakia, Roma people are the poorest of the poor. They live in poverty and areas with almost 100% of unemployment. Besides this, they live in areas with a high exposure of chemicals and hazardous waste, they do not have access to potable water; and this not just the case of Slovakia, but also of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Austria, Serbia and some other of Central and Eastern European countries. Environmental injustice and social exclusion of Roma communities has roots in the historical patterns of ethnic exclusion after the collapse of state socialism.

C.C.