BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30. The Environmental Protection First (EPF) Coalition has issued a statement condemning France's reported transfer of uranium-based radioactive waste to areas of Armenia near the provisional border with Azerbaijan.
Trend presents the full statement:
“We, the members of the Environmental Protection First (EPF) Coalition, regard the placement of uranium-based radioactive waste by France’s state-owned nuclear energy giant Orano in territories near the provisional border with Azerbaijan as a new phase of environmental warfare against our country.
According to French media reports (source), this process began in June 2025, and the first batch of nuclear waste has already been transported to Armenia’s Dilijan National Park. Situated north of Lake Goycha and entirely within the Aghstafa River basin at altitudes between 1100 and 2800 meters, water runoff from this area ultimately flows into the Kura River. Since the park is close to the Gadabay, Tovuz, Aghstafa, and Gazakh districts, biodiversity across large parts of Azerbaijan is under threat.
Investigations by French media indicate that the export of uranium waste to Armenia was agreed upon during a February 2025 meeting in Paris between President Emmanuel Macron and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Following this, large and suspicious donations from the French side were made to the ‘My Step’ Foundation, led by Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, as a form of compensation.
Storing nuclear waste in a seismically active region like Armenia further amplifies the environmental threat.
France, which operates 56 nuclear reactors across 18 nuclear power plants, has already been criticized for dumping nuclear waste into oceans near its former colonies. Now, transporting this waste to Armenia should raise concern globally, including within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
We call on Armenian environmental organizations to rise against this act of ecological terrorism. The France-Armenia tandem must be stopped from violating key international accords such as the Espoo Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Helsinki Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.
Although Armenian authorities have attempted to dismiss the media reports as “disinformation,” they refuse to allow independent verification.
We, the EPF Coalition, call on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to grant Azerbaijani civil society organizations and representatives of the IAEA and other international bodies access to conduct monitoring in the Armenian territories near the Azerbaijani border where the radioactive waste is reportedly being stored.”
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