Islamists could blow up Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant: Lithuanian press digest

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Islamists could blow up Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant

While, officially, the Lithuanian authorities are calming down people and journalists, some local media are warning that Islamists are taking aim at Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. One of the most pro-American countries of the region, a country who does not have as effective anti-terror programs as the US or, say, the UK do and who — most alarmingly — has just officially supported Denmark (by publishing cartoons and making top-level statements) in its conflict with the Muslim world — Lithuania is certainly a perfect aim for those wishing to “punish the West” by hitting it where it would never expect to be hit. Islamists are always there to hit where one is off his guard — especially as Lithuania does have a facility whose ruin would eclipse 9.11. Not just a blow-up in a super-market, which is the best way to punish the “puffed-up” Europe. But the ruin of Ignalina would be the ruin of the three-million Lithuanian nation.

One more important factor: the EU old-timers hide their atomic plants under the ground, under special sarcophagi no terrorist can reach, while Ignalina is Chernobyl — everything is on surface and within easy reach. It is exactly because of those Chernobyl-type reactors that the EU demands Ignalina’s closure (it was even a condition for Lithuania’s admission into the EU). Even more, operating Ignalina are not a drilled western team but, in fact, a crew of Soviet-training with all of its shortcomings.

Lithuanian experts say that if the terrorists proved efficient enough to blow up the famous skyscrapers in the center of New York, why can’t they do the impossible in a country that has no arms against the ramified terrorist network?

Lithuanian media see firm grounds in these apocalyptical fears. The events of the last week have made them actually fearful. Why does a key Al-Qaeda sponsor, just arrested by the British special services, some Mohammed Benhammedi, meet and announce his marriage to a Lithuanian girl, the daughter of an Ignalina guard? asks Lietuvos Rytas wondering over the news by a British source. Can the meeting of a terrorist with such a girl be just a coincidence? Even if the girl has actually fallen in love with the Lebanese, she may simply be unaware of the secret plots of Al-Qaeda. Ready to give their own lives, the terrorists will even more readily agree to such marriages just to become sons-in-law to guards of atomic plants and to get closer to those facilities. It’s not a secret that sex and women (and the girl was the lover of the man) are one of the ways for special services and secret terrorist organizations to get their goals.

The top authorities in Lithuania also seem to take this version seriously and to see real threat in it. Respublika reports that the fact that the lover of the Al-Qaeda possible sponsor is the daughter of an Ignalina guard has been discussed behind closed doors by the parliamentary committees on national security and defense (CNSD) and foreign affairs and the director general of the national security department (NSD) Arvydas Pocius. Later, CNSD Chairman Alvydas Sadiackas met once again with Pocius to discuss the reliability of Ignalina employees.

Respublika reports Sadiackas “to deny that the British news about the father of the Visagina girl has put on alert the Lithuanian officials. He tried to calm down by saying that one guard cannot be a threat to a whole atomic plant, especially as he has no access to the reactors. But the actions the authorities have taken to ensure the security of the plant prove otherwise.”

Sadiackas admits that “an official inspection is being held at Ignali — the national security department and British services are probing into the ties of Ignalina guard S. Zakurko might have with terrorist and Islamic extremist groups who have been traced from London to Voronezh via his daughter V. Zakurko.” Sadiackas says: “This is a special question and we’ll solve it anyway. Now we are deciding whether to keep Zakurko or to remove him from work. As far as I know, he has a limited access to the special areas of the plant. I think that he should be removed from work for the investigation period.”

This incident has urged the authorities to see once again how reliable the Ignalina personnel are. Sadiackas says to Respublika that “the NSD recommends to check up the reliability of all the Ignalina employees.” “This problem must be analyzed. Yesterday, I proposed that the NSD and the economy ministry, who has an authority over Ignalina, address the problem — to see how they in the plant control the reliability of their personnel, how their supervision system works. We must see if everything is OK in that system. The personnel there are checked once in five years, and so we must see if they have procedures for detecting changing circumstances during that period. I believe that en employee’s reliability is crucial for security.”

Georgia will teach Lithuania and the EU how to defy Russia’s blackmail

In the heat of the Russian-Georgian conflict the Georgian leaders are traveling the anti-Russian countries of the EU and NATO in quest of support. Though officially presented as acquisition of Euro-Atlantic integration experience, the actual goal of the visit of Georgian European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Minister Georgy Baramidze to Vilnius was, according to experts, to enlist foreign support in Georgia’s critical conflict with Russia. (Baramidze is former Georgian Defense Minister, by the way). “Georgia Teaches Europe How to Be More Independent From Russia” – that’s how OMNI headlines the article it has written with reference to BNS. Once in Vilnius, Baramidze began right off speaking about the “Russian blackmail” in Georgia’s gas conflict with Russia. BNS says: “Our guest Georgian European and Eur-Atlantic Integration Minister Georgy Baramidze claims that Georgia’s experience is a lesson for not only Georgia itself but the whole Europe.”

Particularly, after his Feb 15 meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis Baramidze said: “This dramatic situation has been a good lesson for us. And not only for us but for the whole Europe and each European country — a lesson saying that we must be as much independent from Russia in energy as possible in order to be independent and free from the blackmail of that country, who uses energy as a weapon.”

Baramidze was as bellicose in explaining how to “disarm”

Russia: by a common anti-Russian energy strategy and a new gas pipeline from Middle Asia via Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. This will make the Russian gas unnecessary.

Baramidze and Valionis also discussed Georgia’s de facto admission into NATO, which was exactly the objective of Baramidze’s visit to Vilnius. BNS reports Baramidze to hear once again that “Lithuania wholeheartedly supports Georgia’s membership to NATO” and Valionis to say personally that this support is “in specific efforts and projects” Lithuania is making to help “our colleagues in Georgia.” Though Valionis did not say when exactly Georgia will be admitted into NATO, he said that the results of the efforts are obvious.

Particularly, in Vilnius Baramidze said that Georgia may receive the plan for NATO accession as early as in two months, in Apr, and in 2008 it may well be invited to become NATO full member. Baramidze said: “When speaking of NATO membership we hope that in Apr or Nov 2006, during the meeting of the NATO leaders in Riga, Georgia will be offered a plan of action for NATO membership and that in 2008 we will be invited to become a full member to the Alliance.”

Feeling itself almost a NATO member, Georgia is more modest about its chances of membership in the EU. Obviously, it gives priority to membership to a military-political bloc. “We are not making haste with the EU integration, we are yet focused on the EU New Neighborhood policy,” says Baramidze. The EU has drafted this program especially for the South Caucasus.

Georgia’s attitude to Lithuania as to an “elder brother,” who is already over with the path Georgia is just embarking on, cannot but impress Vilnius. Thereby Georgia makes Lithuania’s image higher. It was exactly for services to the Lithuanian Republic and for “glorifying Lithuania’s name in the world” that Georgy Baramidze got the knight order “For Services to Lithuania” and the medal “January 13.” Presenting the awards was Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus himself. As regards the medal given to Lithuanian and foreign citizens who defended Lithuania’s independence in Jan-Sept 1991, Baramidze has deserved it — a day before the Jan 13 tragic events, he and his two compatriots came to Lithuania as green party members to actively cooperate with Sajudis by supporting its ideas and partaking in its actions.

Inflation will keep in Lithas and keep out EURO

Lietuvos Zinios gives increasingly more facts that Lithuania may not be let into the EURO zone in early 2007, as was planned before. The key obstacle may be inflation. Despite the official forecasts that the rise in the fuel tariffs would cause just a 0.2% growth in prices — which would allow Lithuania, according to the finance minister, to fulfill its EURO commitments, in reality the prices have jumped much higher.

Feb 14 the Department of Statistics reported a 0.5% growth in prices and an average annual inflation of 2.8%, which means that Lithuania does not comply with the price stability criteria. Mostly affecting the prices was the rise in the gas consumer tariff.

Now to be eligible for EURO Lithuania needs coincidence of two factors: successful efforts to curb domestic prices and continuing growth in inflation in the whole EU since the inflation rate in Lithuania will be compared with that in other EU countries.

Lithuanians are mobilized to Iraq by force

Earlier Lithuania said that it sends on international military missions only volunteers, but it has turned out that there has been no voluntariness here for a long time, says Respublika. True, sent to trouble spots are servicemen on contract rather than just draftees. But they too — earlier reported as volunteers — now are mostly unwilling to sacrifice their lives in the Danish contingent in Iraq while the whole Islamic world is up in arms against the Danes because of the cartoon scandal. Many still remember Afghanistan and how Lithuanian soldiers were sent there by force. It seems that the situation is recurring. Parents are writing to the daily with concern that their children are being sent to face Muslim bullets by force. It turns out that Lithuania is sending its soldiers to Iraq on a compulsory basis.

In Iraq Lithuanians are serving in Litcon-7 contingent. 20 Lithuanians there from have just gone back to Iraq after a training in Denmark. The daily has got a letter from a Litcon-7 soldier, who does not want his name to be known for fear of his commanders. (the daily knows his name).

This is what he says: “We are the first to get no per diem from the Danes because Lithuania has signed no contract with them. The service regulations forbid us to speak with the press without permission by our commanders. Formerly all Litcon-7 soldiers signed contracts specifying their allowances, social guarantees in case of injury and insurance. We have signed no such contract — they say because some regulations have been changed, but nobody has told us which ones. Our labor contracts say nothing about a mission abroad, which means that the contracts have been changed and we know nothing of it. Probably we don’t like such terms, but we know of them by hearsay only. Formerly soldiers went back home after a training in Denmark, but now our commander has not let us go. We said we would go on our own money, but they still refused to let us go. So, now wives are coming to many. We have plenty of time but are doing nothing.”

The Lithuanian servicemen say pointblank that they don’t want to go to Iraq. The daily has spoken by phone with a Litcon-7 soldier who will be sent to Iraq in a few days. He says that his comrades have not been given per diem for a whole month already. The command has told the soldiers who are now being trained in Demark that “Lithuania has failed to sign some contract with Denmark.” Though just about to go to Iraq, the soldiers have not yet signed any contracts, nor any contracts were given to those who left for Iraq Feb 9-10 night.

One of the soldiers says: “The worst thing is that our command does not explain anything. Earlier the regulations contained a point about voluntary participation in such missions, now they say it is no longer there. That is, if you serve in the system of territory protection you are obliged to go to Iraq or another trouble spot, that is, to war — like it or not. But when my friends and I came to the Lithuanian army nobody told us that, nobody showed us the new rules, nobody said that we must take part in international missions. Today they say: ‘we must — that’s all.’” It means that Lithuanian soldiers are being tricked and trapped into Iraq.

Cartoon Lithuanian missions

Such a headline Respublika gives to the reflections of Seym member Albertas Sereika, once a key figure on the presidential side in the presidential scandal over Rolandas Paksas. While the head of the Alitus district of the NSD Sereika, without asking permission from his chiefs, provided documents on the sale of an alcohol plant to the president for the latter to use them against his opponents. Dismissed from the department he later joined the Paksas team to be elected with them into the Seym and to be later ruled innocent by the public prosecutor. Sereika says that Lithuania’s foreign policy is inconsistent, this particularly seen in its behavior over the Mohammed cartoon scandal,

“I remember well how they in the committee on national security and defense said proudly how reliable a partner we are for NATO and how much important it is for us to take part in peacekeeping missions, even if this costs the state a lot.” Paradoxically, in Iraq we are keeping peace as part of the Danish contingent. But when a daily of the selfsame Denmark appears with Mohammed cartoons and its counterparts all over the world are sending it signals of support — we, there in Iraq, are rushing to repaint our military hardware… lest, God forbid, the Iraqis might take us for Danes and might think that we are bad and have a hand in this. And, at the very same time, here in Lithuania, they in the committee on national security and defense, once so ardent advocates of our involvement in the mission, are suddenly beginning to worry about the safety of our peacekeepers."

Particularly, the vice chairman of the committee says that “the publication of the cartoons in some local dailies has not contributed to the security of our military men in Iraq.” Sereika wonders: “Can we stay neutral while we are on the front line? Aren’t we program a religious conflict by sending our armed forces to a Muslim country? And why then are we talking about the safety of our soldiers now?” “Lithuania’s other missions are no better,” says Sereika.