BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

October 22, 2005

Belarus protests Lithuania's plan to store radioactive wastes near its border

Belarus protests against Lithuania's plans to build a storage facility for radioactive wastes near its border with Belarus, Belarussian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky stated on Friday.

"We expressed our opposition to plans to build a radioactive waste storage facility near the Belarussian territory and will defend this position in the most vigorous way," Sidorsky said at a meeting with Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus Petras Vaitekunas in Minsk.

The Belarussian premier said this issue was discussed during his recent visit to Vilnius, the Interfax news agency reported.

According to Vaitekunas, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas assured him that "there are a lot of irrelevant points in this issue and that the press has made quite a fuss out of it".

The two prime ministers agreed to set up a joint task force to study the problem, he said.

Sidorsky noted that this problem should be resolved "in good faith", and the two sides should do all they can for the benefits of both countries.

Source: Xinhua

Source:

http://english.people.com.cn/200510/22/eng20051022_216003.html