Abisala: Lithuania has lost the fight on Ignalina nuclear power plant

Aleksandras Abisala, chief negotiator over the extension of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, who used to speak about the considerable growth of the possibility to reach an agreement on the extension of the operation of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, now claims that Lithuania has lost this fight.

After the last week"s European Council in Brussels, when the hopes concerning the extension of the operation of the Ignalina nuclear power plant diminished, Abisala admits that Lithuania has lost the fight, lrt.lt writes.

"I evaluate this as a defeat, yet a defeat only in this part. We previously spoke about long-term action plan for the insurance of Lithuania"s energy security. The extension of the operation of the Ignalina nuclear power plant is only a small part of the general plan. The entire long part is agreements on links, alternative energy supply channels and generation capacities," said ELTA Abisala after the joint sitting of the parliamentary committees on the European and foreign affairs, during which the results of the European Council were discussed.

According to him, the European Commission offered the electricity grid interconnection for the Baltic states and the European Council confirmed the creation of this plan. The European Council confirmed a quite good possibility to receive more pollution permits in the light of the closure of the nuclear power plant in its conclusions. The chief negotiator, whose agreements with the Government finishes in the end of this year, says that he does not know yet whether the new Cabinet of Ministers will need his services, however, he says that he will not step down on his own initiative.

(Source: The Baltic Course)