[ad_1]
The Baltic states agreed to end electricity trade with Belarus after the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. For this, a system of certificates of origin of electricity will be used.
The Baltic countries will not buy electricity from Belarus after the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Ostrovets. The relevant departments of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia reached such an agreement the day before, according to the website of the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
“According to the agreement, electricity trade with Belarus will stop after the launch of a nuclear power plant there, and for this a system of certificates of origin of electricity will be introduced,” the message says.
The ministry pointed out that the electricity trade in the Russian-Latvian section will continue in a reduced volume, for this they will use the residual capacity of the internal trade between the Baltic countries. The volume of trade between Kaliningrad and Lithuania will remain the same.
According to preliminary estimates, after reaching an agreement, the volume of trade between the Baltic countries and third countries will be cut in half, the ministry said.
The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant is the first nuclear power plant in Belarus, it is being built in Ostrovets District Grodno region. Russian state corporation “Rosatom” – designer and general contractor of the project.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on August 31 were the first in the world to impose personal sanctions on the Belarusian authorities after the elections and the crackdown on peaceful protests in the country. The Baltic states have turned 30 Belarusian officials persona non grata, including the country’s current president, Alexander Lukashenko. Belarus has threatened to respond to the sanctions.
EU foreign ministers August 28 agreed to impose sanctions on top Belarusian officials due to electoral fraud and violence against protesters.
Ukraine will decide on sanctions against Belarus when the EU introduces restrictions, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Mass protests have been going on in Belarus since August 9. The protesters believe that the results of the presidential elections, which were held from August 4-9, were falsified. According to official data, Lukashenka won with 80.1% of the voters. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second with 10.1% of the vote. The rest of the candidates earned less than 2%. At the same time, alternative exit polls showed the opposite picture: Tikhanovskaya’s confident victory.
The Belarusian security forces violently dispersed the demonstrations, in particular with the use of stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons. During the protests, more than 7,000 protesters were arrested (many of them have already been released), hundreds were injured and wounded. According to official figures, four protesters died.
Mass protests took place in Minsk and other cities in Belarus on August 30. In the capital, protesters approached the Independence Palace to congratulate Lukashenka on his 66th birthday. The protesters brought “gifts” to the president, including a black coffin with crowns and a cardboard cockroach. In the morning, the security forces brought military equipment to the capital.
173 people were arrested in protests in Belarus on August 30. According to human rights activists, the detainees included minors and a Russian citizen.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on behalf of the European Union, said on August 11 that the elections in Belarus “were neither free nor fair”, and that the authorities used “a disproportionate and unacceptable violence “against protesters.
[ad_2]
