27/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - Belarus wants to ensure safety of its future nuclear plant in Astraviets itself. Belarus is turning a deaf ear to the urgent appeals from Lithuania and the European Commission for the country to conduct stress tests for its future nuclear plant in Astraviets, close to the border with Lithuania, as part of the EU peer review. Although the Commissioner for Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, called on the Belarus Foreign Minister, Vladimir Makei (during the latter's visit to Brussels on Monday 23 May) to carry out a stress test, the Belarus Foreign Office spokesperson, Dmitry Mironchik, indicated during a press briefing on Tuesday 26 May that as a stakeholder, Belarus was the most interested of all the different parties in ensuring that the safety of its Astraviets plant complied with international standards. He highlighted the fact that "Lithuania is insisting that we take the measure that we already have taken, are taking and will continue to take. We will do this on our own initiative". (EH)