The European Parliament urged the European community to bolster its support for Chernobyl relief efforts in Belarus.  As reported on Naviny.by, this was conveyed in an April 18 statement following a special meeting convened a day earlier at the suggestion of prominent Belarusian researcher, Yury Bandazhewski, who now lives in Vilnius.  In the statement, the European Parliament cited the need to create independent funding channels that are “free from government abuses” to support cleanup and rehabilitation efforts in Belarus’ contaminated zones.  The European Parliament also recommended further monitoring and study of Chernobyl's effects on human health and the environment by the European community and endorsed proposals to establish a research and development center in Lithuania offering assistance to former Chernobyl cleanup workers.  Dissident Belarusian scholars and opposition leaders also participated in the meeting, as reportedly, did representatives from the Belarusian embassy in Belgium.

The European Parliament called on the Belarusian government to provide necessary social and medical assistance to citizens affected by the 1986 nuclear accident and called for full and honest disclosure of information about the disaster and its effects. 

This information was originally published on April 18, 2008. (www.naviny.by)