Madame President,
I have the honor to make this statement on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic States: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and my own country – Lithuania.
40 years ago, Europe awoke to the shock of the Chornobyl disaster. Explosions at the then Soviet operated nuclear power plant led to the enormous release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. Carried by the wind, radioactive contamination spread across vast parts of Europe, with the heaviest fallout affecting Belarus and Ukraine.
For years, the true impact of Chornobyl was obscured by delays in communication, by political pressures, and by fear of reputational damage. These delays compounded harm, eroded trust, and spread danger far beyond the reactor walls.
While only about 30 people—plant workers and firefighters—died directly from the explosion and immediate acute radiation syndrome within months of the 1986 disaster, the overall estimates range from roughly 4,000 to over 90,000 long-term cancer deaths attributed to radiation exposure among liquidators and the general public. The disaster has had devastating health implications impacting several generations, in Belarus and Ukraine.
The Soviet authorities initially sought to keep silent about the disaster, while mobilizing over three hundred thousand clean-up workers from the army, power plant staff, local militia and fire fighters. Many of those workers were exposed to the highest radiation doses while conducting clean-up within the 30 km zone around the reactor. We pay tribute to their service and sacrifice in the efforts to preserve the safety and health of others.
In 1986, about 116 000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the Chornobyl reactor and another 230 000 people were relocated in later years. Nevertheless, according to the 2006 World Health Organization report, a large increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer has occurred among persons who were young children and adolescents at the time of the accident and lived in the most contaminated areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
The enormous human tragedy was also compounded by environmental, social and economic damage, which has taken decades to mitigate.
In this regard we reiterate our appreciation for the role that the United Nations plays in coordinating international recovery, including long-term rehabilitation, health monitoring and sustainable development.
Madame President,
As we commemorate the 40th anniversary of Chornobyl disaster, paying tribute to the memory of all the victims and survivors, we must also draw lessons from the disaster, not least the on the importance of ensuring safety of critical energy infrastructure, such as the nuclear installations.
Today we must also face the sad reality that the Chornobyl tragedy was not fully acknowledged by Russia, which is perpetrating its war of aggression against Ukraine. In the context of this aggression, in 2022, we have witnessed Russian troops reckless occupation of the Chornobyl exclusion zone and the looting of its equipment. In 2025 Russia conducted a dangerous drone attack on the Chornobyl New Safe Confinement structure, causing extensive damage and a fire. Russia’s war has dramatically increased the risk of a nuclear disaster with profound national and international consequences.
The Nordic and Baltic States also strongly condemn Russia’s illegal seizure, operation and militarization of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Any further escalation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant resulting from Russia’s illegal actions may pose unimaginable consequences that could reverberate across borders and generations, as we have already seen with the case of the Chornobyl disaster.
We express our appreciation for the work by the International Atomic Energy Agency and for its continued work in overseeing the nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, in accordance with the seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security, developed in response to Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. This also includes the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, a continuous presence there.
To remember Chornobyl is to preserve institutional memory: the lessons about transparency, safety culture, and the cost of denial. As we approach a period of new reactors, new technologies and new risks, forgetting Chornobyl would be a strategic failure. Memory must lead to responsibility and nuclear responsibility is shared. It does not stop at national borders, nor does it rest solely with plant operators or regulators.
On this solemn fortieth anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, we, the Nordic and Baltic States call on all members of international community to continue to remember this tragedy, its human cost and the immense loss and suffering, and to commit to ensuring that such disaster is never repeated.
I thank you