KP Slammed by EU over Russian Diamonds
November 23, 23
(IDEX Online) - European Union diplomats have slammed the Kimberley Process over its failure to act against Russia.
They said its inability to reach agreement on the issue "casts a shadow on its ability to stay fit for purpose and address challenges affecting its core mandate".
The KP plenary at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, ended earlier this month without a final communique, and with a walkout by the observer group KP Civil Society Coalition (KPCSC) in frustration that delegates had dodged the issue.
Russia rejected any reference to Ukraine's request for an agenda item on the implications that its "war of aggression" had for the KP.
In a hard-hitting statement issued yesterday (22 November) the European External Action Service (EEAS) - the diplomatic service of the EU - said it deplored KP's inability to consider the consequences for the global rough diamond sector of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
And it lamented the fact that it had made so little progress in the last year to reach a broader definition of conflict diamonds that could include those produced by Russia.
"We regret that despite the significant revenues generated by Russia's diamond exports and the Kimberley Process' core mandate to break the link between the trade in diamonds and conflict, it was not possible to reach consensus to include an item on the agenda and discuss the matter."