Belarussian Pig for Tat

A kind of war is brewing between two former members of the old USSR, Lithuania and Belarus.

Lithuania, a neighbour of Belarus is building a nuclear waste dump just 700 metres from their common border. Belarus is livid with rage because of the potential hazards of leaks and other emergencies that may affect one of its national parks in that area. It claims it hasn't even been consulted on the construction of such an ecologically and health sensitive facility.

Like Japan, Belarus is particularly sensitive to nuclear contamination. It suffered most from the fallout of the Chernobyl reactor disaster, even though the reactors were in Ukraine. 60% of Chernobyl's fallout drifted into Belarus.

In a tit for tat move, though not officially declared, Belarus is proposing to build two giant farm complexes with a capacity for over 200,000 pigs. Needless to say, the farm will be close, very very close to the Lithuanian southern border. Worse, the complex will lie beside a river that runs straight into Lithuania.

The proposal was carefully leaked to newspapers by the Belarussian agriculture ministry. Ahhh, psy-war, ain’t it fun!

Now, the Lithuanian Prime Minister has condemned the plans, saying that construction of such a pig farm in the river basin would be a “barbarous act."

If Belarus carries out its threat, as it undoubtedly will if Lithuania goes ahead with its planned nuclear waste dump, then the inevitability of pig waste flowing down the river to a popular spa resort in Lithuania would be an absolute disaster.

I suppose there’s only one solution – Lithuania must consider its neighbour’s feelings before it moans its own. You know, Do unto others ……..

Nothing more than a case of pig for tat.