EU & the World

Belgian Mood Turning Against Russian Diamonds

Published

1 year ago

April 29, 2023

belgian-mood-turning-against-russian-diamonds

The next round of EU sanctions will not ban “blood diamonds” from Russia, even though no one in Belgium wants them anymore.

“Consumers do not want to buy diamonds that have blood on them,” said Vicky Reynaert a Belgian MP of the left-wing.

“Everyone knows what Alrosa is doing with the money” [Russia’s biggest diamond firm] She said, “It’s going to directly finance the war against Ukraine”.

Reynaert spoke with EUobserver following the Tuesday (25th April) approval of her resolution, which called on the Belgian government support an EU-wide ban on Russian stones.

Aside from the consumers in Reynaert’s focus groups, Belgian MPs voted unanimously for it.

The MP stated that a vote in the plenary two weeks later is expected to produce the same result. “Everyone agrees with our reasoning,” said the MP.

She added that the resolution is not binding, but it will be a “important signal” that Alexander De Croo, Belgian Prime Minister, will find difficult to ignore.

The diamond market in Antwerp, Belgium, accounts for 40 percent of the EUR4bn diamond exports from Russia each year. This creates 10,000 jobs.

On Wednesday, the Belgian Foreign Ministry could not be reached to comment.

De Croo said in the past that he would not veto a ban at EU level.

Belgian diplomats, however, have said that the Russian gems would be sent to Dubai and India, saving the Kremlin money.

Instead, Belgium has proposed that the G7 level scheme be used to track and stop the purchases of conflict stone by the wealthy countries who control the lion’s portion of the global market.

Poland and the Baltic States had called for a ban on EU diamonds in the next round Russia sanctions expected in May.

One EU diplomat said that this was unlikely given the G7 concept and that Poland was not exerting much pressure to make it happen.

Reynaert, however, believes that the EU and G7 embargoes must be stacked on top of each other.

“Let’s both do it,” she said.

“We must be clear – this trade in Russian Diamonds relies on Alrosa which is part Kremlin. She added that the Kremlin owned 33 percent of Alrosa.

“We know that it’s funding the war.” The MP said that it is difficult to explain why other sectors of the Belgian economy are forced to follow EU sanctions and suffer losses, while the diamond sector does nothing.