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Baltic pipeline safe, says Putin | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has defended his country's Nord Stream gas pipeline against accusations that it will damage the fragile Baltic Sea. | |
He said extensive research had been carried out on the environmental impact and that the project would be "safe". | |
He was speaking in Helsinki at a summit of leaders from Baltic countries. | |
The Baltic is already a sink for chemical pollutants and untreated sewage, and is said to be one of world's most polluted seas. | |
Weapons on seabed | |
Construction of the Nord Stream pipeline is due to begin this year, with completion set for 2012. | |
It is meant to pump 55bn cubic metres of gas per year from Russia directly to Germany. | |
"I believe that Nord Stream will be environmentally safe and reliable, and a very good supplier of natural gas to Europe and make our continent more stable," Mr Putin said. | |
He said more than 100m euros had been spent on environmental research and expressed surprise at the "emotional response" of critics. | |
Other Baltic countries fear the project could stir up toxins lying on the sea bed, especially those inside a vast number of WWII-era armaments. | |
"It's serious. We are worried about the dioxins and other poisons on the seabed," Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said. | |
"We expect our scientists to get full information about it all." | |
Three years ago the nine countries with a Baltic coastline set the goal of restoring the sea to health by 2021. | Three years ago the nine countries with a Baltic coastline set the goal of restoring the sea to health by 2021. |
Finnish President Tarja Halonen urged leaders of the nine countries to speed up their action. | |
"Today, some of the richest and most environmentally conscious countries on Earth live on the shores of one of the world's most polluted seas," she said. | |
"Isn't it a tragedy?" | |
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