MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2021) Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Monday that he is planning to raise the issue of Belarus' Astravets nuclear power plant (NPP) during a European Council meeting later in the day.
Upon arrival at the meeting, the Lithuanian leader commented on the arrest of Roman Protasevich, a co-founder of a Telegram channel that coordinated protests in Belarus, during the weekend Ryanair plane stopover in Minsk and proposed expanding EU sanctions against the country.
"I would like to remind [you] that many times I raised the issue of [the] Astravets nuclear power plant in European Councils. We discuss this issue in the light of economic, energy market and ecological consequences and context. This time, we should talk about the Astravets nuclear power plant as a possible geopolitical weapon against the European community. So, this issue I will raise this evening too," Nauseda said.
The Astravets NPP is being built by Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom, in the Grodno region of Belarus. Lithuania has been protesting its construction since day one, claiming it to be dangerous, with its parliament going so far as to call for EU sanctions against Rosatom and other companies involved. Minsk maintains that the project meets the highest security standards.
