The Lithuanian government expects Washington to enter an open confrontation with Belarus to disrupt the launch of the BelAES.
Such an appeal was made to the USA by Baltic Energy Minister Zhigimantas Vaichiunas.
According to him, the American administration could have “deepened” the situation around the construction of the nuclear power plant. The official claimed, while communicating with his U.S. counterpart Dan Bruyette, that the BelAES is both a nuclear and geopolitical threat.
In particular, Vaichiunas drew attention to the fact that the U.S. is actively trying to sabotage the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, which means they may be interested in BelAES.
“One can call the chairman of the European Commission or shamans, but nothing will change from that – the sun will rise in the east anyway. Also in the east, Lithuania has a powerful nuclear power plant, which will generate 1200 megawatts of power”, – commented the head of the Foundation for Research and Development of Civil Initiatives “Foundation” Alexei Anpilogov.
At the same time, he stressed that Belarus hadn’t suffered from electricity shortages for a long time, so the launch of BelAES will affect the energy map of Eastern Europe.
When Lithuania was admitted to the European Union, it was made a condition: to stop its Ignalina NPP, which ensured the energy independence of the country. Since then, the country had hoped to build a new nuclear power plant, thus strengthening its position. The launch of BelAES ruins those plans, which explains Lithuania’s discontent.