MINSK, 7 May (BelTA) – The Belarusian Embassy in Lithuania has commented on an interview that Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius gave to the Belarusian information portal TUT.BY, BelTA informs.
“Unlike the Lithuanian foreign minister, Belarus views the Belarusian-Lithuanian relations in a comprehensive manner, with the Belarusian nuclear power plant project being one of its elements, regardless serious disagreements upon it,” the embassy said in a statement.
According to the diplomatic mission, Belarus and Lithuania are neighbors. “We have been cooperating in many areas. The mutual trade is on the rise. The two states have been implementing interesting projects in construction, retail, woodworking, agriculture, transport and logistics,” the embassy said.
“We appreciate Lithuania's ‘concern' over the safety of the BelNPP. Its construction, which we plan to complete within the schedule, is a sovereign right of any country, be it Belarus or any EU member state. By calling the BelNPP ‘an element which we will probably never agree upon', the Lithuanian foreign minister publicly denies such a possibility and, a priori, excludes this issue out of discussion. Perhaps, the reason is in Lithuania's incorrect understanding of the essence of dialogue. We believe that the dialogue is a conversation aimed at seeking a solution rather than demands to ‘listen to' the facts provided by one side only,” the embassy said.
According to the Belarusian embassy, the Lithuanian foreign minister even questions the opinion and authority of the IAEA, the only competent international organization in these matters.
“And, of course, we are concerned over the words of the foreign minister: “The issue of the Ostrovets NPP is not helping the dialogue [between Belarus and the EU].” It is unfortunate that Minister Linkevicius has publicly linked the topic of the BelNPP with the development of the Belarus-European relations. This is a short-sighted approach. The plant will be built. Belarus and the EU will remain neighbors, for whom it is vitally important to develop cooperation in various fields. We will let the words about “residual sovereignty” rest on the conscience of the Lithuanian foreign minister since it makes no sense to comment on the statements that contradict the reality and common sense,” the diplomatic mission said.
The Belarusian embassy suggested that the Lithuanian foreign ministry should stop using the current situation for its own goals and start building normal long-term relations.
