News

On 3 May, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Darius Skusevičius handed a diplomatic note over to the Ambassador of Belarus to Lithuania Alexander Korol, explaining the incident of 19 April 2017, when a light aircraft P46T, registration No. N600 EU, flew into the Belarusian airspace near the settlement of Kotlovka.

Lithuania explains that the light aircraft was in a  controlled airspace throughout the entire flight, so it was jointly controlled by competent Civil Aviation and Air Force authorities of the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Belarus, and promptly returned to the Lithuanian airspace. Competent authorities of the Republic of Lithuania have launched a pre-trial investigation into the airspace violation.

During the meeting,  the Vice-Minister raised the issue of the Astravets nuclear power plant (NPP). Skusevičius noted that Lithuania’s questions about safety of the Astravets NPP, its possible negative environmental impacts and adverse health effects in residents of Lithuania remained unanswered.

“The construction site for the NPP was selected in the area of Astravets in violation of international nuclear safety and environmental standards. We believe it is an unacceptable risk to us,” the Foreign Vice-Minister told the Ambassador of Belarus.

In the meeting, Lithuania once again called on Belarus to immediately stop the construction of the Astravets NPP and to avail itself of the help of international experts, who would thoroughly review the project. Skusevičius also noted that selective application of international instruments, like in the case of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Site External Events and Design (SEED) mission to Belarus, when an assessment of the site was deliberately omitted, not only did not answer the questions raised, but also did not contribute to building mutual trust.

The meeting discussed also other items on the bilateral agenda.