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Belarusian FM accuses Lithuania of double standards over NPP project

On the one hand, Lithuania voted for the abandonment of anti-Belarusian sanctions, on the other hand, it wants a number of European financial institutions not to cooperate with Belarus, says FM

© EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH

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Putin states construction of NPP in Belarus is strictly in compliance with schedule

MINSK, May 27. /TASS/. Belarus’ Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has accused Lithuania of fanning political tensions around the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.

"A virtual political orgy has been stirred up around this project in the recent time," Makei said on Friday. "On the one hand, our Lithuanian partners have voted for the abandonment of anti-Belarusian sanctions, but, on the other hand, they want a number of European financial institutions not to cooperate with Belarus."

The Lithuanians, in his words, maintain that these financial institutions will invest funds into projects linked with the construction of a nuclear plant. "Such a position is absolutely unclear for us. It actually means new hidden sanctions," the Belarusian top diplomat said.

The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant is being built in the city of Ostrovets in the Grodno region. Its first unit is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018. The second unit will be commissioned in 2020. Lithuania has been demonstrating concern of this project as the would-be nuclear plant is located 50 kilometers away from its capital city of Vilnius. The Lithuanian authorities say that Minsk has not provided convincing assessment of possible environmental impacts of the nuclear plant and has deviated from international nuclear safety standards.

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