Demonstrating against the nuclear spectre

“No to atomic.” On 26 April, 25 years after the Chernobyl catastrophe, close to 300 people gathered outside the Lithuanian parliament to protest against the construction of three nuclear power stations in the regeion: one in Lithuania, one in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, and a third in Belarus. It was the first anti-nuclear demonstration in the country in two decades. "The spectre of nuclear energy is hidden behind a veil of secrecy," complains Lietuvos rytas, which notes that in early march Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko signed a deal for the construction of the Astrava power station in Belarus, which will be located at a distance of 50 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital. Vilnius has requested answers from Minsk on the environmental impact study for the plant and is attempting to oppose the project as best it can: the government is currently drafting a law that will forbid the purchase of electricity from nuclear power plants that do not comply with safety standards.