Opinion: Western assistance to Belarus in fight against Chernobyl disaster consequences was at its low
37th years ago, on April 26th, 1986, a disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant happened, and the Rector of the Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus, Vyacheslav Danilovich, believes it is now important to prevent the repetition of tragedies of the kind
In his talk with Alfa Radio, Mr. Danilovich noted, “We should prevent the repetition of similar catastrophes in the future. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident is a tragedy for our people: 70 percent of the radioactive contamination covered Belarus, and a quarter of the country’s territory was somehow contaminated with radioactive particles. This disaster makes us never forget that it is necessary to be careful with peaceful atom development.”
As noted by the expert, Belarus has been effectively overcoming the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. “It is very important and valuable that the work dealing with reasonable overcoming of these consequences has been put on a systematic basis in Belarus – primarily, thanks to the President’s position. These are not the alarmist sentiments that prevailed in the late 1980s-early 1990s, when the nationalist forces used the theme of the Chernobyl disaster for political promotion, staged Chernobyl rallies and organised other political campaigns that led to nothing. Those were counterproductive actions aimed at rocking the socio-political situation in the country," he explained.
“Aleksandr Lukashenko took on that task [dealing with overcoming of the Chernobyl disaster consequences] on a systematic basis. Since 1997, Chernobyl districts have been regularly visited, and the work is underway on the reasonable use of lands in the exclusion zone and the creation of a normal standard of living for people who live there. This is very important and valuable. I would like to emphasise that – based on the data of economists – the Chernobyl disaster caused $235bn in damage to Belarus (which was actually thirty-two BSSR budgets of 1985). Overcoming the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster in Belarus has been taken place as part of the state programmes. Five of them have completed, and the sixth one is in force until 2025. Huge financial resources are spent to eliminate the consequences of that disaster," Mr. Danilovich added.
According to the expert, Belarus is coping with the consequences virtually alone, “The rejection of the Belarusian way of life and the country’s socio-political structure by the collective West has long-standing roots. There were words of support, but the real financial assistance was actually minimal. Its volumes have been decreasing, and the country has been forced to solve virtually all the problems independently. A lot has been done, and this shows that the strength of spirit, the potential of Belarusian society and the state is very great. We are able to overcome such tragedies.”
Mr. Danilovich also touched upon the topic of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and the criticism it is subject to on the part of the West. “It is necessary to understand that this is pure politicisation on the part of our closest neighbours, who – in particular, Poland – also wish to build nuclear power plants on their territories. They simply do not appreciate the fact that Belarus is largely an energy independent state thanks to its nuclear station. Therefore, this should be perceived calmly. I am sure that, given the vast experience of overcoming the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, the maximum possible measures have been taken to ensure the safety of Belarus’ nuclear power plant," he concluded.
