LITHUANIA URGES EUROPE TO REFRAIN FROM BUYING POWER FROM UNSAFE NPPS
Thursday, March 24, Brussels - President Dalia Grybauskaitė is attending a two-day meeting of the European Council in Brussels. EU leaders are discussing measures to promote EU economic recovery and competitiveness. Other key issues on the agenda include nuclear power situation in the EU and the rest of the world and measures to ensure security and stability in North Africa after the conflict in Libya.
As noted by the President, the European Competitiveness Pact as a set of measures and instruments will determine how quickly Europe will recover from the deep economic crisis. According to the President, it will be expedient for Lithuania to join this Pact as many of its measures aimed at maintaining responsible fiscal policies have already been launched and are being implemented in Lithuania.
President Grybauskaitė also stressed the European Council was very deeply concerned with the issue of nuclear safety in the world following the grave incidents in Japan's nuclear power plants.
"Europe also has many old power plants, which must be checked for quality and safety. I am calling in this Council on behalf of Lithuania on other countries to support our initiative to enhance safety of nuclear power in Europe by involving all international organizations and EU institutions. I am also inviting other EU countries to respond to Lithuania's call to refrain from buying electricity from power plants which fail to meet the highest safety standards," the President of Lithuania said.
As far as the situation in Libya is concerned, the President said, the issue will be subject to in-depth discussions. According to the President, stability in the North African region is important for Lithuania, like for other EU countries, as the situation there has a direct impact on global energy prices and thus also on Lithuania's economy and its recovery.
