SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
RESOLUTION
ON THE THREAT POSED BY EVENTS IN BELARUS
TO EUROPEAN NUCLEAR SAFETY
22 September 2020 No XIII-3291
Vilnius
being concerned about the daily violence used by law enforcement structures and special services of the Republic of Belarus against peaceful protesters and other representatives of the public,
observing that, in the wake of growing political tensions in the country, the unlawful launch works are continuing at the nuclear power plant in secret, without the control of the public and experts, with nuclear safety oversight authorities failing to act, in violation of international nuclear safety requirements, and in the context of protests by workers carrying out the construction of nuclear facilities,
having regard to the threat posed to nature and population across the European continent by the irresponsible development of nuclear energy,
reminding that, on numerous occasions, there has been presented public evidence of widespread and varied violations of requirements for the construction of nuclear facilities in the course of the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant,
reminding that both the site selection procedures and the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant do not comply with international nuclear safety standards, and on 30 July 2020 the Belarusian authorities changed the legal regulation of nuclear safety, thus opening the way to operating nuclear installations which do not comply with international safety standards,
concerned about the commencement of fueling of the first reactor of the Belarusian nuclear power plant on 7 August 2020 without appropriate permits and the start of the preparatory work for its launch,
calls on the Belarusian state nuclear safety authorities to immediately cease the preparatory work for the commissioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, which is totally unacceptable in the context of the country’s severe political instability;
requests that the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) take all the measures to halt the start of operation of the reactors of the Ostrovets nuclear power plant until all doubts as to the compliance of the construction and pre-operational development of this plant with international nuclear safety requirements have been allayed;
calls on the civil society of Russia as a country also affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, nuclear energy and civil protection experts to influence the country’s public authorities in order to halt the launch of the reactors at the Ostrovets nuclear power plant and thus reduce the risk of a nuclear catastrophe;
expresses its concern about the continued persecution and unlawful arrest of Belarusian public figures seeking to raise awareness regarding the construction of the Ostrovets nuclear power plant, such as Irina Sukhy, one of the leading experts on the Aarhus Convention in Belarus, detained on 7 September 2020 and imprisoned for five days, and calls for the immediate release of those unlawfully detained and for adequate compensation for the damage caused to them;
notes that in line with the implementation of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Necessary Measures of Protection against the Threats Posed by Unsafe Nuclear Power Plants in Third Countries, access to the electricity market of the Republic of Lithuania may not be allowed for electricity from Belarus not only directly but also from the Latvian bidding area in the Nord Pool Spot market, and calls on the European Union to endorse as soon as possible Lithuania’s position of principle regarding the non-access of this electricity to the markets of the Member States of the European Union;
reiterates the provisions expressed by the Seimas in its Resolution No XIII-3281 of 18 August 2020 on the Situation in the Republic of Belarus following the Falsified Presidential Elections, in which the Seimas called on the leaders of the Republic of Lithuania, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the national parliaments and governments of EU Member States and NATO countries urging to deny recognition of the falsified results of the elections held in Belarus on 9 August 2020 and likewise to deny recognition of President Alexander Lukashenko as a legitimate leader of Belarus and invited to call for holding new and transparent presidential and parliamentary elections in Belarus that would meet the democratic standards.