17 May 2010
Irena Degutienė, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Prof. Dr Norbert Lammert, President of the German Bundestag, who is paying an official visit to the Republic of Lithuania upon the invitation of the Speaker of the Seimas.
Energy issues were at the focus of the meeting; bilateral cultural co-operation was also discussed.
The Speaker of the Seimas noted that the nuclear power plants to be constructed in Belarus and Russia straight at the Lithuanian border are the biggest concern for Lithuania. The priority site selected by Belarus for the construction of the nuclear power plant in Astravets is very close to our capital city Vilnius, the distance being merely 53 kilometres; and the location selection criteria are unclear and vague. That raises our big concern, Mrs Degutienė said.
Mr Lammert responded he could understand Lithuanias concern as there were nuclear power plants of the neighbouring countries operating close to the German border, and there seemed to be no plans to close them.
The meeting participants were interested in Germanys position in relation to the European Unions plans to purchase electricity from the new Belarusian and, notably, Russian nuclear power plants in the future and its view upon the proposal to limit or tax, on the EU level, electricity imports from third countries nuclear plants that fail to meet safety standards. The Head of the Bundestag underlined he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the whole European Union, however, he expressed his conviction that none of the EU member states was willing to be dependent on energy supplies from Russia or Belarus.
Lithuania could show its initiative and seek the European Unions unambiguous common position on refusal to buy electricity from the two nuclear power plants in Belarus and the Kaliningrad Region. I suppose we might succeed in reaching an agreement upon that, - Mr Lammert said.
Secretariat of the Speaker of the Seimas
Juozas Ruzgys, Adviser to the Speaker
