Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda held a telephone conversation with the Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, during which the Lithuanian leader said that the Belarusian nuclear power plant poses a threat to the security of the EU.

This is reported on the website

President of Lithuania.

“Ostrovets NPP (the Lithuanian name of BelAES.

- RT

) poses a threat to the safety of EU citizens, and therefore such an irresponsible launch of this facility must be prevented.

In addition, the EU is obliged to prevent the entry into the market of electricity generated by producers from third countries that do not meet the highest standards in the field of nuclear safety and environmental protection ”, -

said Nauseda.

The message emphasizes that Belarus continues work on the launch of the first unit of the BelNPP, allegedly ignoring nuclear safety problems and not implementing the recommendations of stress tests.

At the same time, "thanks to the efforts of Lithuania, the safety and reliability of the Ostrovets NPP has become a priority issue for the EU."

“The EU leaders stressed that the decision on the compliance of the Ostrovets NPP with the highest safety requirements and the implementation of recommendations regarding its stress testing will affect the further development of relations between the EU and Belarus.

The President called on the European Commission to maintain a leading role in the development of concrete measures to be implemented, ”the website of the President of Lithuania says.

Nuclear construction

Belarus is building a nuclear power plant near the town of Ostrovets in the Grodno region according to the Russian NPP-2006 project.

The general contractor is Atomstroyexport, a structure of the state corporation Rosatom.

BelNPP will consist of two 1200 MW power units each. 

The power start-up of the first power unit of the BelNPP is scheduled for November 7, its commissioning - at the beginning of 2021.

The second power unit is scheduled to be commissioned in 2022. 

  • President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda

  • Reuters

  • © Aris Oikonomou / Pool

The nuclear facility has passed all the necessary and even additional checks by the IAEA and other relevant institutions.

At the same time, the Lithuanian government claims that the nuclear power plant was built without observing safety and environmental requirements.

The country's parliament declared BelNPP a threat to national security and in 2017 legally prohibited the purchase, as well as the export transmission of its electricity through its power grids.

Vilnius also actively urges other Baltic countries and the EU to boycott the Belarusian project.

In early August, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius announced that he would send a note to Minsk in connection with the launch of the plant, since the Belarusian side changed the procedure for licensing the NPP commissioning, separately issuing a license only for the physical launch.

Linkevichus asserts that the process of putting a nuclear power plant into operation should be a single one and not be divided into stages.

“We must draw the attention of the international community to the manipulation of the issuance of a license,” TASS quoted him as saying.

In turn, the Lithuanian distribution system operator Litgrid reported in September that, following the negotiations between the Baltic energy network operators, a methodology was developed, which provides, among other things, the following requirement: the electricity supplied to the Baltic market must not be of Belarusian origin.

Energy Minister Zhigimantas Vaiciunas said that now the methodology has been brought into full compliance with the Lithuanian "anti-Ostrovets law".

“Today, the three Baltic distribution system operators have reached an agreement in principle to supplement the previous methodology with a provision that prohibits the supply of electricity to the Baltic States, which is not accompanied by proof that Belarus is not its place of origin,” he told BNS.

The pledge of independence

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said in September that the implementation of the BelNPP construction project was one of the reasons for external pressure on the republic.

“We are also mastering the energy of the peaceful atom at our first nuclear power plant.

This is one of the reasons for the pressure on us.

In Poland, you can plan (the Americans will build a new station for them), but we cannot.

Finland can build nuclear reactors, but we cannot, ”BelTA quoted Lukashenka as saying at a meeting with members of the National Academy of Sciences.

  • President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

  • Reuters

  • © Nikolai Petrov / BelTA / Handout

The Belarusian leader noted that nuclear power plants are operating around on the territory of Ukraine and Russia, however, despite this, pressure is still being exerted on Belarus due to the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Lukashenka also said that the new nuclear power plant will become a guarantee of the country's security and independence.

“Without me or with me, you will understand what a nuclear power plant is.

This is not only a great achievement and cheap energy.

This is the greatest security for our country, ”he said.

“Offer solutions.

Decisions for the future that will ensure our sovereignty and independence, ”he stressed.

The Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania was closed for the sake of joining the European Union, and a new one was never built, Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recalled in an interview with RT.

Therefore, the construction of a new nuclear power plant in neighboring Belarus is a "political blow" for Vilnius, the expert explained.

“The Lithuanian government is madly annoyed by the fact that Minsk is richer in technological competencies.

These statements of the President of Lithuania are incorrect in relation to Belarus, since he has no evidence of the danger of the BelNPP.

In addition, the position of Vilnius has the character of a simultaneous strike on both Minsk and Moscow.

If, for example, France were building a nuclear power plant in Belarus, the Lithuanian screams would be much less audible, ”Mezhevich stressed.

According to Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies of the IMEMO RAS, the position of the Lithuanian leadership on the BelNPP can be explained by the unwillingness to allow cheap electricity from Belarus to the Baltic market.

“These statements are based on the fact that since January 1, 2010, the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which was built in 1983 with the aim of supplying the Baltic countries and Belarus with electricity, was decommissioned in Lithuania.

Subsequently, electricity was supplied to Lithuania from Sweden through the laid power cables, and to Estonia from Finland, which, given the logistics, is quite expensive for the countries.

The electricity that will be produced at the Belarusian nuclear power plant is 25% cheaper, therefore Lithuania now demands from Latvia and Estonia that they do not buy Belarusian electricity in the future, ”the expert said.

At the same time, he recalled that international nuclear regulators issued Minsk all the necessary permits for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants.

“Lithuania assumes responsibility to declare that BelNPP is not safe.

But this issue is being dealt with by the IAEA, which issued the necessary permission to Belarus and which has no questions or complaints about the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

The Lithuanian president wants to make this a problem for the entire EU, therefore he develops all sorts of theories from the field of fantasy, ”the political scientist said.

Vladimir Olechenko stressed that, despite the efforts of Lithuania, the European bureaucracy is in no hurry to take any measures regarding the BelNPP.

“The EU has already set its teeth on edge to fulfill all the wishes of the Baltic states.

Rather, Lithuania wants to discourage Latvia, Estonia and Poland from buying electricity from Belarus, ”the expert concluded.