News

At the meeting of Nordic and Baltic countries’ foreign ministers (NB8) held on 29 August in Riga, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antanas Valionis stressed Lithuania’s concern about the plans of the Russian company “Lukoil” to pump oil out of the oilfield D-6 in the Baltic Sea near the Curonian Lagoon. He called the European Commission to play a more active role in the discussions with Russia on this issue. Minister Valionis assured at the meeting that Lithuania would be “very concerned” about the possible pollution of the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon until it possessed enough official information on the oil-pumping project and its effects on the surrounding area. “We stress our preparedness to cooperate with Russia on developing the anti-pollution measures, but having an opinion that Russia tries to avoid an effective cooperation, we would like to ask the European Union and HELCOM to encourage the Russian authorities to start substantial cooperation with the countries concerned,” the Minister said. He also reminded the decision of the UNESCO World Heritage Commission to send an international group of experts to the Curonian Lagoon, which would evaluate possible effects of D-6 to the surroundings, as well as Lithuania’s suggestions to monitor the state of surroundings in the D-6 area together with Russia in the future.