French MEP Calls on EU to Immediately Impose Sanctions Against Rosatom

The state corporation Rosatom serves Russia’s military needs and must therefore be included in the EU sanctions lists. Moreover, the EU’s dependence on Rosatom in the operation of European nuclear power plants carries serious geopolitical consequences and must be eliminated as soon as possible. The EU has an obligation to impose immediate sanctions against Rosatom — this is a matter of the European Union’s own security and resilience.

This was stated in a comment to Guildhall by French Member of the European Parliament Majdouline Sbai (Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance).

«Following the unprecedented military aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation on 24th of February 2022, our group has constantly been calling for an embargo on uranium from Russia. The Greens/EFA also called on the Member States to stop any collaboration with Russia in the nuclear field, in particular the termination or removal of operating licences for Rosatom and all its subsidiaries, and to immediately revisit any Euratom Art 41-44 opinions and the support of Russia to the ITER project. Yet, since then, the EU has been playing a dangerous game whereby it sanctions several entities linked to the military sector, but leaves the nuclear sector and Rosatom untouched. Namely, the EU has sanctioned persons and entities operating in the Russian military and IT sector; companies active in space engineering, in the chemical sector, the explosives sector and in leading Russian energy companies; individuals and entities involved in or benefiting from Russia’s military and industrial complex», — the MEP noted.

«It is no secret that Rosatom serves military purposes and should as such be sanctioned too. Moreover, the EU’s dependency and reliance on Rosatom when it comes to its own powerplants has severe geopolitical implications and should be targeted as soon as possible. We were really keen on cutting all ties with Russia on gas, why would nuclear energy benefit from another treatment? The reasoning behind is exactly the same: by buying gas, we are giving money to Putin and sustaining the war against Ukraine. The same goes with uranium. The nuclear lobby has developed a very nice and attractive narrative at EU level whereby it is a «clean» energy, absolutely essential for EU’s transition. But let me ask you this question: how clean is an energy that fuels war and human rights violations?», — the politician added.

«I am very much aware of the reluctance of France, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria to accept sanctions on Rosatom. Yet, I call on them to come to reason and stop their double discourse: if we are serious on the need to end the war, to sanction entities operating in the military sector and on the absolute necessity not to finance the war against Ukraine, we must sanction Rosatom now. This is a matter of security and resilience for the EU. We do have alternatives and must absolutely invest in renewable energies rather than backtracking from the EU Green Deal. But first of all, we owe it to the Ukrainian people», — the French MEP concluded.