European Commission urges Armenian nuclear power plant's decommissioning
By Vafa Ismayilova
The European Commission has called on rapid measures to decommission the Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia, Trend reported on February 5.
The Metsamor nuclear power plant requires an early closure and safe decommissioning, the European Commission’s Partnership Implementation Report on Armenia was quoted as saying.
The report said that these measures are needed as the nuclear power plant cannot be upgraded to fully meet the internationally accepted nuclear safety standards.
“It is necessary to rapidly adopt a road map or action plan to address this, taking into consideration the need to ensure Armenia’s energy security and conditions for sustainable development,” the report said.
In late January, Azerbaijan's Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva urged all relevant international agencies to take serious steps for the immediate closure of Armenia's nuclear power plant which is a potential threat to the entire region. The rights commissioner also expressed serious concern over the recent discussions in the Armenian parliament on the use of radioactive waste from the Metsamor NPP for military purposes.
Armenia’s three-decade occupation of Azerbaijani territories extensively damaged the ecosystem, wildlife and natural resources in and around the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenians also resorted to large-scale acts of ecological terror in regions they had to leave under the trilateral November peace deal that stipulated the return of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.
The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated for the second time in 2020 after Armenia's forces deployed in the occupied Azerbaijani lands targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, causing casualties among civilians and the military. In the early hours of September 27, Azerbaijan launched a counter-offensive operation which lasted six weeks. The operation resulted in the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied lands.
A Russia-brokered ceasefire deal that Azerbaijan and Armenia signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to the 44-day war between the two countries. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied.
--
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz