The Belarusian Embassy in Lithuania has announced that a meeting with the Lithuanian public and professionals to discuss the EIA report for the nuclear power facility will be held in Astravyets on August 17.
“We saw many unanswered questions in the answers previously sent by Belarus as regards the nuclear power plant in Astravyets. The Foreign Ministry has been asked to communicate our position to Belarus and no meetings with the public could take place as long as there are no final and complete answers. It seems to me that it’s more of an attempt to put pressure on us,” Environment Minister Valentinas Mazuronis told BNS.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius told BNS that Belarus was not following the procedures envisaged in the Espoo Convention.
“They are not following the procedures of the Espoo Convention… The data they have sent do not match the requirements and no meetings could take place,” the minister told BNS.
The UN Espoo Convention stipulates that public consultations on the basis of the EIA could only take place after the experts of the countries concerned had been provided complete access to required documentation.
Belarus expects to build its first nuclear power facility with a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts near the town of Astravyets, in the region of Grodno, some 50 kilometers from Vilnius.
