
Lithuania has no unified position on the nuclear power plant project in Astravyets, say experts and politicians themselves.
Safety at the Belarusian plant and import bans on its electricity have become common refrains in party rivalry as general elections are closing in.
MEP Petras Auštrevičius argues that the Lithuanian government is only paying lip service to resisting the Astravyets Nuclear Power Plant construction, without actually doing anything.
By lifting sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, the EU has given Belarus access to loans from the European Investment Bank. The funds can be used for the infrastructural development needed for the Belarusian nuclear power plant, says Auštrevičius.
Former head of the State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate Saulius Kutas says that responsibility for this situation in large part should be shared by politicians exploiting energy issues for their own benefit.
“I think it would be constructive if the parliament agreed – and involved the president in this agreement too – to appoint one person, like during the negotiations over the decommissioning of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant […]. In my opinion, it would be useful to have a politically neutral person trusted by all major players in Lithuania, <…> to form a common position,” said Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, the director of Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University.
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