PR:European civil society to put pressure on Lithuanian politicians to implement referendum results

PRESS RELEASE November 30, 2012

European civil society to put pressure on Lithuanian politicians to implement referendum results
On 5 November, 1:30 p.m., members of European civil society will be protesting in front of the Lithuanian embassy in Berlin, Germany. They will be demanding Lithuanian politicians to amend pronuclear laws in line with the results of the referendum held on 14 October, 2012, in which majority said "No" to nuclear plans.

"Lithuanian nation has decided to stop the plans of a new nuclear power plant and the Parliament must implement the decision made by the people in the referendum. It is disappointing that we have to put pressure by protesting – in a democratic country it should be obvious that the results of the referendum have to be implemented," – explains antinuclear activist and the co-organizer of the protest in Berlin Laura Gintalaitė.

By law the referendum is legally binding despite widespread speculations of the opposite both locally and internationally. The authorities are trying to confuse the issue by misinterpreting the legal terms used to describe two types of referendums – mandatory and  consultative (deliberative). However, the law lists the cases when the Parliament has a duty to announce a referendum, hence the term mandatory referendum. The term does not imply that the Parliament is not obliged to implement the results of the consultative referendum as it is being speculated now by local politicians and nuclear industry. The results of any type of the referendum are legally binding as it is explained in the Law on Referendum.

All leading politicians including Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius and the President Dalia Grybauskaitė are playing down the results clearly signalling their support to nuclear industry while bluntly dismissing the decision of the nation. President Dalia Grybauskaite played down the results by claiming that only less than 30 percent of the citizens doubt the benefits of the new nuclear power plant. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius speaks that the nuclear project must be developed further despite the opposite decision made in the referendum.

Lithuania planned to build a new NPP in Visaginas together with Japanese American company "Hitachi-GE", Latvia and Estonia. The estimated costs of building 1,350-MW Hitachi-GE Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) at Visaginas site are 5 billion EUR. Planned start of operation was in 2020-2022. The action in front of the Lithuanian embassy in Berlin is organized by "Zali.lt" and "AntiAtomBerlin".

The number of signers of international petition on the issue in Avaaz.org site has reached 400 in two days and is steadily growing.

Contact:
 * Linas Vainius, Atgaja Community (Lithuania)
 * E-Mail: [mailto:linasATatgaja.lt linas AT atgaja.lt]
 * Telefon: +370 69933661 (englisch)

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This media release has been provided by the "Nuclear Heritage Network". It is an international network of anti-nuclear activists. This informal alliance supports the worldwide anti-nuclear work. The Nuclear Heritage Network is no label, has no standard opinion and no representatives. All activists of the network speak for themselves or for the groups they represent.