Lithuanian Prime Minister: Parties should state their position on nuclear plant and not hide behind referendum

"Before talks about referenda, to my mind, all parties – be it ruling or opposition parties – should, first of all, decide whether we can guarantee the project's continuity or there are reasons making parties change their opinion completely and speak out against the project. It would not be wise and responsible for parties to run from their responsibility, from expressing their clear opinion and hide behind some referendum," the prime minister said in an interview for the Žinių Radijas (News Radio) on Thursday.

Kubilius underlined that the construction of Visaginas nuclear power plant is a continuous project that was launched by the social democratic government in 2005.

"The governments of that time were coalitions, with the participation of the Labor Party and the Peasant Party. It's a project that the seimas adopted necessary laws for," the prime minister reminded. "We guarantee its continuity by carrying out very specific work and wrapping up an international tender for a strategic investor by entering into a concession agreement with Hitachi company. I am therefore convinced that in this case, continuity is a valuable thing," the head of the Lithuanian government said.

The parliament has recently approved for discussion a proposal by opposition groups to hold an advisory referendum on the N-plant plans in conjunction with the general elections in October. The referendum has also been initiated by a group of citizens who must collect at least 300,000 signatures by 27 June.

Lithuania's government says the new nuclear power plant will increase the country's energy security, as the country has been importing more than half of electricity after decommissioning of Ignalina nuclear facility in 2009. Government representatives have said Visaginas electricity price will be competitive.

The new power plant is expected to be operational by 2020-2022, with the participation of strategic investor Hitachi and Baltic energy companies.