New ecological warfare against Azerbaijan France places uranium waste near Armenia border

The Environmental Protection First (EPF) coalition has issued a statement regarding France's placement of uranium-containing radioactive waste near the de facto border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The statement says that EPF members consider the placement of uranium-bearing radioactive waste by the French state-owned company Orano near the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as a new form of ecological warfare against Azerbaijan, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

“According to French media, this process began in June, and the first batch of nuclear waste has already been deposited in Armenia’s Dilijan National Park. The park is located north of Lake Sevan, at an elevation of 1,100 to 2,800 meters in the Aghstafa River basin, with water flows from the Aghstafa River eventually reaching the Kura River. Since the park is located near Gadabay, Tovuz, Aghstafa, and Gazakh districts, Azerbaijan’s biodiversity is under threat.

Citing investigations by French media, EPF indicates that the export of uranium-containing radioactive waste to Armenia was agreed upon during a meeting between Macron and Pashinyan in Paris in February this year.

Following the agreement, suspiciously large donations from the French company appeared in the account of the “My Step” Foundation, chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, the EPF statement reads.

"The Environmental Protection First coalition calls on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to facilitate monitoring by Azerbaijani NGOs, in cooperation with representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency and other international organisations, in areas adjacent to the de facto Armenia-Azerbaijan border,” the statement reads.

By Khagan Isayev