Belarus denies Espoo Convention non-compliance claims by Lithuania

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus considers Lithuania’s claims that Belarus has violated the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) as unfounded, Lyudmila Ivashechkina, the deputy head of state ecological examination of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection of Belarus, told BelTA while commenting on the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry's statement that Belarus had allegedly failed to assess the impact of the nuclear power plant project on the environment in accordance with the Espoo Convention.

“The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus is implementing the recommendations that were formulated for Belarus by the Implementation Committee of the Espoo Convention,” Lyudmila Ivashechkina said, adding that the Ministry repeatedly confirmed Belarus’ commitment to fulfilling the Committee's recommendations. Belarus repeatedly sent communications about it to the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania, and also informed the Secretariat of the Espoo Convention and the Espoo Convention's Implementation Committee. "I believe, therefore, that Lithuania’s claims against Belarus are unfounded. The situation created by Lithuania defies logic,” added the expert.

In July 2011, the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania sent a letter to the Espoo Convention’s Implementation Committee alleging that Belarus failed to comply with the Convention's requirements when planning the construction of a nuclear power plant in Ostrovets. Having considered the statement of Lithuania, the Committee published the final recommendations for both Belarus and Lithuania on 15 April 2013.

According to the expert, in order to reach a consensus and implement the recommendations of the Committee, the Belarusian ministry regularly sent letters to the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania giving answers to the questions of the Lithuanian Ministry. In addition, the Ministry suggested holding joint consultations between Belarusian and Lithuanian experts on the Environmental Impact Assessment report. The Lithuanian ministry was also sent the materials of the research and studies on the Ostrovets site containing the security justifications for construction of the nuclear power plant in the area.

"However, the Lithuanian side either ignored the letters of the Belarusian Ministry, or kept asking the same questions concerning the safety of nuclear power plant to the public and to the environment of Lithuania in lieu of all constructive suggestions,” said Lyudmila Ivashechkina.