Poland's ambassador summoned by Belarus officials after commentary of Polish Foreign Minister on Astravets NPP

Belarusian ministry of Foreign Affairs has commented on the statements of the Polish FM Witold Waszczykowski, who said that Poland would not purchase energy from the Belarusian NPP due to the dangerous technology.

The Foreign Ministry wrote there was a clear politicization of a routine issue of the Belarusian NPP construction through the demonstration of the so-called “European solidarity” under the pressure from the Lithuanian side.

“Belarus is open to cooperation and communication on the nuclear safety issue, including on the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, with all stakeholders, and especially such close neighbors as Poland. In 2009-2013, Poland participated in the interstate discussion of the evaluation carried out by Belarus on the impact of the future nuclear power plant on the environment and did not oppose the project at the time.”

The report notes that “linking the alleged decision not to purchase the electricity produced at the Belarusian nuclear power plant with “dangerous technology” sounds strange, especially due to the fact that Poland is considering the development of nuclear energy sector in the country”.

“We would like to remind you that the technology used in the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been used successfully in the implementation of similar projects in such countries of the European Union as Hungary, Slovakia, Finland and the Czech Republic. As far as we know, there was no official criticism of these states from Poland. In this regard, the Ambassador of of Poland in Belarus was summoned to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.”