France arrests activists blocking ship over alleged Russia uranium links

Around 20 protestors carried signs reading “Stop toxic contracts” and “Solidarity with Ukrainians”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

DUNKIRK, France - Police arrested four Greenpeace activists on March 2 for blocking a cargo ship in France that they alleged was transporting uranium from Russia for the country’s nuclear power plants.

Around 20 protestors carrying signs reading “Stop toxic contracts” and “Solidarity with Ukrainians”, blockaded the Mikhail Dudin at the northern port of Dunkirk on the morning of March 2, to prevent it from unloading its cargo, an AFP journalist observed.

French authorities then arrested four individuals, Dunkirk police told AFP, adding that the blockade was lifted around 9am (4pm Singapore time).

Greenpeace has repeatedly accused France of maintaining ties with Russia’s state-owned energy company, Rosatom, despite President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Activists, some on kayaks, had impeded the ship while a large banner stretched across the lock read, “Uranium: EDF loves Putin” – a jab at the French state-owned energy giant.

In 2018, France’s EDF signed a €600 million (S$895.01 million) deal with a Rosatom subsidiary, Tenex, for reprocessed uranium from French nuclear power plants to be sent to Russia to be converted and then re-enriched before being reused in power production.