VILNIUS, September 8 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Vodo) - The construction of the North-European natural gas pipeline (NEG) is a matter between Russia and Germany, and Lithuania should not interfere, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas said Thursday.
Brazauskas, speaking on Lithuanian radio station Ziniu radijas, was responding to statements made by Lithuanian deputy to the European Parliament Vitautas Landsbergis, and Lithuanian Economy Minister Kestutis Dauksys.
Landsbergis had said the agreement on the pipeline construction project around Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland implied a re-drawing of the European political map. The Baltic States and Poland would be left at the mercy of Russia, he said.
Dauksys had said the construction of the pipeline would lessen the energy security of Lithuania and neighboring states.
The agreement on the construction of the NEG pipeline was signed between Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom and the German companies E.ON and BASF, in Berlin.
The construction is scheduled to start in 2005, and to be completed in 2010. The natural gas pipeline will link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea. It will have a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas annually and cost two billion euros.
