News

On 31 March in Washington, D.C., the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the U.S. Department of State’s Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister expressed concerns about the failure to comply with international safety regulations when constructing the Astravets nuclear power plant in Lithuania’s neighbourhood and drew attention to the negative impact that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline had on the EU’s energy security.

“Unfortunately, Lithuania’s questions concerning the site selection criteria for the Astravets nuclear power plant, environmental impact analysis, etc., still remain unanswered. The Government of Belarus has not shown any determination to keep its promise to perform a stress test on the nuclear power plant so far.  Therefore, the attention dedicated by the international community to the Astravets nuclear power plant is important for the entire region in the context of nuclear safety,” said Linkevičius after the meeting.

In the meeting, the officials also discussed issues related to the synchronization of the Baltic power grids with the continental European power systems, as well as exports of the U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Lithuania.

The U.S. Department of State’s Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Hochstein praised Lithuania for its leadership in implementing the LNG terminal project. According to the official, it sets a good example for other countries in the region.

On the same day in Washington, D.C., Lithuania’s Foreign Minister together with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin participated in a ceremony to commemorate the victims of Holodomor.

The Ministers discussed the security situation in eastern Ukraine, the implementation of the Minsk accords and the farcical trial of Nadiya Savchenko.

The ceremony to commemorate the victims of Holodomor was also attended by Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, members of the Government, representatives of the Ukrainian and Lithuanian communities in the United States.

From 31 March to 1 April, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister is attending the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., as part of the delegation led by the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė.