Brussels, 23/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - Armenia, Croatia, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Belarus all agreed, on Thursday 23 June, to carry out the pan-European stress tests agreed by EU member states on their existing and planned nuclear power plants (only the three above-mentioned former Soviet republics and Switzerland have reactors in operation at the moment). The methodology and criteria for the tests were set by the European Commission and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) on 24 May (see EUROPE 10386). In a statement signed on Thursday in the presence of Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, the EU's neighbours agreed to re-assess the safety of their existing and planned nuclear installations, using the arrangements agreed by EU member states as a reference, and the principle of a transparent peer review. “Nuclear safety is indivisible. This is a huge step forward, for us, and for the neighbours on the European continent”, Oettinger said in a press release. (E.H./transl.rt)