Valdas Adamkus: Russia Builds an Atom Bomb by Hands of Belarusians near Vilnius

The ex-president of Lithuania expressed his principled position on Belarusian NPP.

At an international conference on regional security held at the University of Vilnius on Tuesday, Valdas Adamkus criticized the current authorities of Lithuania for their inability to convince the neighboring countries of the European Union (EU) that the nuclear power plant (NPP) being built near Lithuania in the Belarusian town of Astrovets posed a threat, delfi.lt writes.

Mr. Adamkus called the Astravets NPP the "atom bomb". According to the ex-president, Lithuania could also solidate the regional opposition against the laying of the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. "At the EU summit Lithuania needs to raise the issue not only on Nord Stream 2, but also regarding Astrovets, to seek the meeting of political leaders of the whole region dedicated to energy with the designation of all new threats," he said at the conference on regional security.

"Russia builds an atom bomb by hands of Belarusians on the approaches to Vilnius, and we are unable either to convince the European countries of our concerns or to reach an agreement with the nearest neighbors," Adamkus stated. The position of Lithuania on the Astrovets NPP remains unchanged: the construction of the NPP which is being conducted by the Russian ROSATOM must be stopped because the project does not meet international standards for environmental and nuclear safety, and it can prevent Lithuania from synchronizing its electricity networks with Western Europe.

Minsk categorically dismisses all these claims. Lithuania has adopted a special law on boycott of electricity from the NPP, but some experts say that this step does not make sense, since neighboring countries, primarily Latvia, did not join it.