DPA: The Saxon Dresden is unlikely to comply with UNESCO's ultimatum

Dresden/Quebec (Canada) - The Saxon metropolis of Dresden sees no option to halt the construction of the criticized bridge over the Elbe near the Forest Lodge, even after today's ultimatum from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The UNESCO conference in Quebec, Canada, gave Dresden a "final warning" that if they do not cancel the construction of the disputed bridge, the Elbe waterfront in Dresden will be removed from the prestigious list of World Heritage in 2009. However, the relevant Saxon authorities attach more weight to the will of the citizens, who decided on the bridge's construction in a plebiscite, than to the opinions of UNESCO's expert commissions.
    "I cannot order an immediate halt to construction, nor can the city administration," said the city's highest official, Lutz Vogel, to the DPA agency. According to him, a resolution from the city council and current consent from the Saxon government, which is involved in the project, would be necessary for that.
    However, the Saxon authorities officially deny that the matter concerns them directly. In a preliminary statement, the government spokesperson assumes that the construction of the bridge near the Forest Lodge will not be halted. The spokesperson for the Dresden city council also sees no legal option for such a step.
    UNESCO has urgently called on Dresden to abandon the construction of the bridge and instead build a tunnel in the area. Otherwise, the inscription of the Elbe banks in Dresden will be removed from the list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage sites. As a warning, the organization has been including Dresden on its list of endangered sites for several years now.
    The representative of the German delegation at the UNESCO meeting, Brigitte Ringbeck, also admitted that Germany now has a last chance. "If construction continues, the title is gone," she told DPA. Opponents of the bridge have attempted to challenge the construction in court in recent years, but the Federal Constitutional Court has concluded twice, in 2006 and 2007, that the construction is entirely legal since a majority of Dresden's residents voted in a plebiscite in 2005 in favor of it. There are reportedly no legal means to block the construction, except for a change of opinion from the relevant local authorities.
    According to the Dresden city hall, the bridge over the Elbe near the Forest Lodge is necessary to relieve the traffic-overburdened historic center. The city had previously rejected the tunnel option, claiming it was unsuitable for the area. Most of the city administration and other supporters of the bridge blame UNESCO for not adequately considering that Dresden is a living city that must ensure favorable living conditions for its residents. Traffic suffocates the historic center of the city, and the construction of the bridge is actually part of the protection of this center, which, along with the banks, is a site protected by UNESCO as a natural-architectural unit.
    "UNESCO's decision is incorrect, incomprehensible, and unfair from the perspective of Dresden," stated the incoming mayor of the city, Helma Orosz.
    According to some commentators, UNESCO is too rigid in its views, and the current battle over the bridge could help change its stance. Radical opinions even argue that Dresden cannot suffer too much from being removed from the UNESCO list. The charm of Dresden will not change due to the act of removal, and the very fact could, on the contrary, attract many visitors curious about what exactly UNESCO has removed and why. Moderate voices argue that UNESCO should wait until the bridge is completed before assessing whether the fears about damaging the whole were justified or not.
    During its session in Canada, which will last until July 10, UNESCO will also discuss the fate of 29 other endangered sites. It will also decide whether to add any of the 47 sites that are newly applying for inscription to its list. Among the candidates is one Czech and two Slovak sites - the Czech site is Luhačovice with its ensemble of buildings by architect Dušan Jurkovič, and from Slovakia, the wooden churches in the east of the country and the fortress in Komárno.