Bernard Ivicic of Green Action told a press conference in Plomin, Istria County, that Greenpeace had thus become directly involved in the campaign against the environmentally and economically harmful Plomin C project.

"The Plomin C project will not make us energetically independent because Croatia has no sources of coal," Ivicic said, adding that the construction of the plant would drastically increase coal imports.

Ivicic said that the project was unprofitable, citing the EU's goals according to which Croatia was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent, while Plomin C would emit over 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. "This means that Croatia will not be able to meet these goals and will have to pay millions of euros in fines annually, which will affect electricity bills and will be paid for by taxpayers," he added.

Zoran Tomic of Greenpeace Croatia told the press that this organisation was against the construction of any coal-burning power plants round the world because they were among the worst polluters. He said that Croatia should turn to renewable sources of energy.

The Arctic Sunrise arrived in Rijeka on Friday as part of a tour in which Greenpeace calls for sustainable fisheries and opposes excessive fishing. The visit came during negotiations on the reform of the EU's common fisheries policy. The ship, which was visited by over 2,500 people, left for the Slovenian port of Koper on Tuesday.