BEconomics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has called for new EU sanctions to ban the import of Russian uranium for European nuclear power plants. In addition, at the end of a trip to Ukraine, he demanded that gaps in the current sanctions regime be closed. He did not name any countries, but a ban on uranium imports from Russia would hit nuclear power plants in France, Hungary and other EU countries.
Habeck met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several members of the government in Kiev. On the return journey in a special train of the Ukrainian state railway, he said on Wednesday night that his interlocutors had drawn his attention to gaps in sanctions “in the nuclear sector”. He was asked why importing “uranium for nuclear fuel rods” into the EU was not yet sanctioned and he said there was “no good answer”.
Referring to those European countries that use Russian uranium for their nuclear power plants, Habeck said he understood they were “dependent,” but Germany was “also dependent on gas and coal supplies.” “And a year after the start of the war, I think there must be efforts, or a specific end date for the ordering of uranium.” That is “reasonable”, even if it means “a changeover” for some.
In addition, Habeck also called for stricter enforcement of the European sanctions that are already in force. There is “clear data that the existing sanctions are being circumvented via third countries”. This is neither a “game of hide-and-seek” nor a “trivial offense” and “in no way acceptable”. Circumventing sanctions undermines efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The suspicion that the current EU sanctions are being lifted in several countries outside Europe is based on the observation that exports of certain war-related goods from the EU to these countries have multiplied since the beginning of the Russian large-scale attack on Ukraine. This seems to be particularly noticeable in vehicles that can be used by the military, but also, for example, in washing machines whose electronic components can be used for weapons. Several of these countries appear to be in Asia. However, it will not be easy to enforce new sanctions and stricter controls because the EU states can only decide something like this unanimously.
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