Belarus calls upon Lithuania to start productive talks on Espoo Convention

Belarus calls upon Lithuania to start a productive dialogue about the fulfillment of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention). The statement was made by Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Yelena Kupchina as she met with Ambassador of Lithuania to Belarus Evaldas Ignatavicius, the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry told BelTA.

The Ambassador was invited to visit the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on 25 July. At the meeting the Belarusian side expressed concern over the unproductive approach of Lithuania towards Belarus’ proposals on cooperation within the framework of the fulfillment of the Espoo Convention in view of the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

Yelena Kupchina said that the Belarusian side was perplexed by Lithuania’s response to the invitation for Lithuanian general public to take part in public hearings regarding the construction of the nuclear power plant in Ostrovets. The invitation was published by the website of the Embassy of Belarus in Lithuania.

The Belarusian side believes that the invitation follows the spirit of the Espoo Convention and regrets the unwarranted statements made by the Lithuanian side after the invitation was placed.

“The ignoring of our proposals by Lithuania as well as attempts to by all means protract the negotiations on the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant run contrary to the spirit of good-neighborly relations,” stressed Yelena Kupchina. “Belarus calls upon Lithuania to start productive talks”.