BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/04/2008

Belarusian Opposition Marks Anniversary Of Chornobyl Disaster As President Slams Opponents Of Nuclear Power Plant

At least 1,000 people marched on April 26 in Minsk to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine near the Belarusian border, Belapan reported. Police put the number of participants at no more than 750. The march, organized by Belarusian opposition supporters, began in front of the National Academy of Sciences, where politicians addressed the gathering. Alyaksandr Milinkevich, who leads the Movement For Freedom organization, said his group is circulating a petition urging the Belarusian government to scrap plans to build a nuclear power plant. Another opposition politician, Mikalay Statkevich, renewed criticisms of the Soviet-era authorities for their failure to promptly inform the public about the 1986 accident at Chornobyl, while Lyavon Barshcheuski, the leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, criticized the current government for ignoring widespread opposition to the nuclear power project. "We must solve the energy problem, but not through such methods," Barshcheuski said. The crowd then marched to a church built in memory of Chornobyl victims, where demonstrators observed a minute of silence and laid flowers at a monument commemorating those who died as a result of radiation-linked illnesses. Riot police deployed at the march route did not interfere. AM

During a visit to Homel Oblast on April 26, the anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka described opponents of a planned nuclear power plant in Belarus as "enemies of the people," Belapan reported. Lukashenka accused opposition politicians of capitalizing on the issue for political gains ahead of this year's parliamentary elections. "They will not manage to do this. I will not allow them to do this, using all resources and all the power that I have in my hands today," Lukashenka said. He said that the critics of the nuclear project "would have done just what I am doing, they would have supported me, if they truly cared about the welfare of our people." Lukashenka said that Belarus is surrounded by nuclear plants, and faces nuclear risks in any case. "Was the Chornobyl plant located on our territory? No. Who suffered most from this catastrophe? We, the Belarusians," he said. "Where is the guarantee that a plant in Russia, Ukraine, or even [elsewhere] in Europe is the safest? There are no such guarantees.... So why do we refuse to have a station of our own?" Lukashenka added that a Belarusian nuclear power plant would help the country to reduce its dependence "on oil and gas from one country." The Belarusian government in mid-January agreed to move toward the construction of a nuclear plant expected to start operating in 2018. AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/04/3-cee/cee-280408.asp

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