Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has called on the European Council President Charles Michel to get personally involved in addressing the safety issues of the Astravyets nuclear power plant in Belarus.
“I am asking for your personal involvement at the highest political level and for immediate action to protect the safety and well-being of the EU citizens,” Nausėda wrote in a letter to Michel on Monday.
Read more: Lithuania to spend €135m to prepare for accidents at Belarus NPP
According to the Lithuanian president, Belarus, together with Russia, ignores concerns by the European Commission, the EU member states, and experts from the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) over a lack of transparency and numerous violations of safety standards in the Astravyets NPP project.
Nuclear fuel has already been delivered to the first reactor of the nuclear facility, some 40 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, and preparations are underway for its planned launch in August.
Nausėda expressed gratitude for the European Commission’s efforts to ensure the environmental and nuclear safety of the Astravyets plant, but he said the EU’s involvement at the technical level was not enough “to reduce the potential threats of this Russian-led project”.
The president called on Michel to send a clear political signal to Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko, urging him not to turn the facility on until the safety issues are resolved, and the EU stress test recommendations are implemented.
He also said that day-to-day monitoring of the safety situation and implementation of safety measures, including regular EU experts’ visits to the plant, should be ensured.
Lithuania is the biggest critic of the Astravyets nuclear plant and is determined to bar market access for its electricity. Minsk denies the allegations that the facility fails to meet international safety standards.
Read more: EU to help Baltics resolve dispute over Astravyets NPP, Latvian president says
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