THE EU HAS TO AIM THAT NUCLEAR SAFETY RULES SHOULD BE COMPLIED WITH IN ITS VICINITY, LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CLAIMS
On 21 March at the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis stressed that in view of events in Japan, the European Union had to make every effort to achieve compliance with nuclear safety and environmental rules not only within the EU, but also in its vicinity. Minister A.Ažubalis stressed that the EU should actively call on neighbouring Belarus and Russia to comply with the highest safety standards.
“Neighbouring countries should take example from the West, where countries voluntarily take additional security measures, rather than to wait for international community’s intensive call. Lithuania has itself experienced what a nuclear disaster means. In a few days we will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, and today, two nuclear power plant projects are implemented at the European Union’s borders in violation of basic international safety and environmental standards. We cannot stay away,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.
Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has consistently attracted and will continue to attract the international community’s attention to the implementation of the nuclear power plant project in Belarus that is non-compliant with international safety standards. Minister A.Ažubalis expected that after the events in Japan, the European Union will pay even more necessary attention to the implementation of unsafe nuclear power projects in its neighbourhood.
The EU foreign ministers discussed possibilities to help Japan, which has suffered damage from natural disasters and nuclear events. Minister A.Ažubalis announced that Lithuania was ready to use all available means to help this country. The Government of Lithuania decided to provide 70 thousand EUR in humanitarian assistance to Japan.
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