Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, Energy, Legislation, Lithuania, Nuclear power plant

"Lithuania could have started to plan the construction of its nuclear power plant as far back as 2004 or 2005. I think that the general situation then would have been very different from today's. However, both the president and I used up all political measures and possibilities that we had over the last period in our relations with the neighbouring Belarus. These relations, as you know it, are not so simple and ordinary. However, we will continue working on that and I am convinced that we need to think not only about how to use our relations with the neighbouring country, but also how to use our ties with international organisations and institutions, and raise serious questions about the expedience of the plants in such sites," Kubilius said after Cabinet sitting on Wednesday.

The prime minister noted that the events in Japan once again proved the fact that modern nuclear power plants must meet the highest safety requirements, reports LETA/ELTA.

"We envisage a very serious threat. As you know, there has been no environmental impact assessment of the plants that are planned in both Belarus and Kaliningrad to meet international standards. This is the most serious issue for the entire international community," the prime minister said.

As reported, on Tuesday, Russia approved the Belarusian nuclear plant project according to which the new plant's site should be 50 kilometres away from Vilnius. Russia also pledged to allocate some 6 billion U.S. dollars to the construction works. The first unit is expected to be launched in 2017.