VILNIUS HOSTS BILATERAL POLITICAL CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN LITHUANIAN AND BELARUSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRIES
On 13 June in Vilnius, the delegation of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry headed by the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Andrius Krivas met with the delegation of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Elena Kupchina. The consultations focused on relations between the European Union and Belarus, and on Lithuania’s prospects in the context of the incoming Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council, and the participation of Belarus in the Eastern Partnership programme.
Representatives of Lithuania and Belarus welcomed the recently intensifying bilateral ties between Lithuania and Belarus, as well as the EU-Belarus relations.
Krivas emphasised that Belarus was a European country, a neighbouring country of the EU and, therefore, the EU wanted Belarus to be a European, independent, and democratic country, and to participate in the Eastern Partnership programme. The Lithuanian Foreign Vice-Minister also reminded Belarusian representatives that the main requirement for a fully-fledged political dialogue between the EU and Belarus remained the same – the release and rehabilitation of political prisoners - and called on the Belarusian side to solve this issue as soon as possible. Kupchina noted that Belarus was also interested to cooperate with the EU.
At the meeting, officials also discussed nuclear safety issues. The Lithuanian side expressed concerns about the construction and safety of exploitation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in the future. The Espoo Convention’s Implementation Committee issued a report on 15 April, finding that Belarus was not in compliance with the requirements of the Espoo Convention. The representatives of Belarus handed in a large size document on the environmental impact assessment of the nuclear power plant in Belarus. At an early date, the competent Lithuanian institutions will examine the contents of this document and its compliance with the requirements of the Espoo Convention.
On the eve of the consultations, Kupchina held a brief meeting with the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linkevičius.
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