ABSTRACT

On 4 October 2010, when a tragic accident at the aluminum factory in Ajka occurred, people in Hungary and neighboring countries were reminded how fragile nature is and how easily human lives can be endangered. The ecological disaster caused by human negligence claimed nine lives, flooded a 40 square km area, devastated villages, and polluted the Danube and its tributaries all the way to the Black Sea. The Ajka case is just one of many examples of environmental crime in South-Eastern Europe – crime that devastates and destroys all forms of life, with restoration taking decades, or even centuries.