LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY REMINDS THAT BELARUS IS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIREMENTS OF THE ESPOO CONVENTION
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania notes that it has not been informed about the intention of Belarus to organize an event related to the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Vilnius.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania reminds that the environmental impact assessment for the Belarusian nuclear power plant under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) has not yet been completed. Since 2009, Lithuania has in vain requested Belarus to provide answers to some basic questions regarding the project: Why was the construction site chosen near Vilnius? When will seismic studies of the site be conducted? What kinds of effects will this cause to the River Neris, the groundwater, and the health of the Lithuanian population? On 3 December this year, Lithuania once again submitted these detailed questions to Belarus.
The Espoo Convention’s Implementation Committee issued a report on 15 April 2013, finding that Belarus was not in compliance with the requirements of the Espoo Convention. The Committee requested Belarus to provide detailed answers to all the questions raised by Lithuania and to take into account comments of the Lithuanian experts, to ensure that the Lithuanian public was provided with possibilities for making comments on the construction of this nuclear power plant, and to comply with other requirements of the Espoo Convention.
Based on these findings, the Belarusian decisions of October and November to issue a licence to install nuclear equipment in the first block of the Astravets nuclear power plant (NPP) and to sign a decree on the construction of the nuclear reactor while carrying out an environmental impact assessment are considered to be a rude violation of the Espoo Convention.
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