Tazaa News latest news updates,
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – February 17, 2023) The European Union’s director general for energy, Ditte Juul Jorgensen, said on Thursday at a congressional hearing that the latest package of European Commission (EC) sanctions against Russia does not include the energy sector.
“We put forward the 10th package of sanctions yesterday. It doesn’t include those aspects, but we’ll certainly see what happens and we’ll continue to develop our response,” Jorgensen told the US Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Jorgensen noted that the European Union has five member states that are dependent on the Russian energy conglomerate Rosatom, and that the European Union is helping to reduce their dependence.
Jorgensen also said that the European Union is worried about the high dependence on Russian uranium.
Jorgensen added that sanctions on Russia’s nuclear sector are likely to have a limited impact at this point and may cause various additional problems for the European Union.
France and Hungary were among the countries that opposed the latest package of sanctions on Russia’s nuclear energy sector, Politico reported Thursday, citing three diplomats.
“Hungary refuses to admit that their nuclear power plant belongs to Rosatom, and they say that it produces 50 percent of the country’s energy supply. However, sanctions against individuals (except the CEO) should not affect energy security.” said a senior official of the European Union. the diplomat told the newspaper.
Diplomats expressed regret that Russia’s energy sector was not included in the sanctions package.
“It’s sad. When it comes to the nuclear sector… no one told us that it’s not good or that it’s going to be difficult. So we’re surprised,” said an EU diplomat from one of the countries in the basin.
According to the report, France also expressed caution. Earlier this week, an official of the French Ministry of Economy told reporters that many French nuclear power plants “use Russian energy fuel.”
