Strache claims that Krsko poses a permanent threat to Austria, that it lies in an earthquake-prone area and that keeping it in use is "utterly irresponsible."

The Austrian politician believes that today's temporary shutdown should be turned into a permanent one.

The Austrian government would have the obligation to announce a veto on Croatia's admission to the EU should Croatia continue to insist on keeping Krsko operational, he said.

Answering a question from APA, the Croatian Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship Ministry said Croatia was not considering withdrawing from the Krsko power plant.

The Ministry said that Krsko was a "safe plant" and that during Slovenia's EU accession it passed all tests, which made the Austrian campaign against it all the more surprising.

The Krsko power plant said earlier in the day that its production was automatically suspended due to a sudden shutdown of a 380-kilovolt transmission line running to Zagreb, and that the event had no impact on the environment.

A spokesman for the Austrian Green party, Werner Kogler, pointed to the risk posed by the Krsko plant, asking the Austrian government to intervene with the Slovenian government.

Josef Buchner, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZOe) deputies in the federal parliament, and the leader of the BZOe branch in Styria, Gerald Grosz, said Krsko posed a lethal threat, particularly to the provinces of Carinthia and Styria, asking that it be shut down.

Apart from the opposition on the federal level, the parliament of the province of Carinthia, too, recently asked that the Krsko plant be shut down, saying that the Austrian government should veto Croatia's accession to the EU should it oppose this demand.