Lithuanian president calls for joint effort against Belarus' nuclear plant

VILNIUS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Monday called on political forces, experts and activists to join forces and cooperate more closely in countering the threats posed by Belarus' Astravyets nuclear power plant. 

"I hope that the joint forces of representatives of different political forces, experts and civil society activists will significantly contribute to ensuring Lithuania's national security," Nauseda said as he congratulated the Movement Against the Astravyets Nuclear Power Plant on its first anniversary.

The president noted that the Astravyets safety has already become an EU agenda issue regularly discussed at the European Council and that the European Parliament, through Lithuanian representatives' efforts, has also got involved in addressing the nuclear plant's safety issues, passing a resolution on the matter on February 11, according to the press release. 

In preparation for the commercial launch of the Belarusian plant that Vilnius considers unsafe, Lithuania also needs concrete decisions to strengthen its civil protection, and threat monitoring and crisis management systems, which will require cooperation among different authorities, it said. 

The president said that these national security issues will continue to be discussed at the highest level in the State Defense Council.

Lithuania is the most vocal critic of the Astravyets plant, saying that the facility located close to its border fails to meet international safety and environmental standards, an allegation that Belarus denies.