Prime Minister De Croo responds to Zelensky’s reproach: “Stopping diamond trade would make the situation in Ukraine worse” | War Ukraine and Russia

Read everything about the war in Ukraine in this file.

Zelensky’s words were clear. In his speech, the president referred twice to the Antwerp diamond trade. “Those who fight for the safety of all European cities, do they think about money, about companies? No. They are different worlds that exist side by side. The tyranny that wants to split Europe, that wants to cut all ties. Who actually wants to silence those who think freedom is so important. There are people for whom the diamonds sold in Antwerp are more important. The Russian ships in port. Can we allow that? Are those revenues more important than the battle we are fighting?”, says Zelensky.

The president also emphasized at the end of his speech that he believes peace is more important than diamonds. “I think peace is worth much more than diamonds. Much more valuable than deals with the Russians. Much more valuable than the Russian ships in the ports. Much more than Russian gas or oil,” he said.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo emphasizes that Zelensky is not afraid to emphasize the pain points of our country. “He mentioned the position of the port of Antwerp and the diamond trade between Russia and our country, and we know that these are difficult subjects,” said De Croo.

Yet the prime minister denies that our country would consider diamonds more important than peace. “The sanctions are decided by the European Commission. The Commission’s reasoning is always that if we take measures, the impact on Russia must be much greater than on us,” explains De Croo. “If we stop importing the diamonds, the trade will move to Dubai in one day. In that case, the impact on Russia is zero, but the impact on Europe would be very large.”

According to De Croo, our country is not financing the war through the diamond trade. “The measures we are taking hit the Russian economy right in the heart. The last thing we need is for Europe to plunge into a deep red economic crisis. Then we will only make the situation in Ukraine worse,” said the prime minister. However, if the European Commission decides to stop the diamond trade in our country, our country will not oppose it, says De Croo.

See also: VTM NEWS journalist Jelle Frencken emphasizes that Zelensky’s speeches are always “tailor-made”

The ‘Antwerp World Diamond Center’ (AWDC) has also responded to the Ukrainian president’s speech and refers to previous statements by De Croo. For example, the AWDC believes that an EU sanction against diamonds is currently not in line with the philosophy of the European sanctions policy. The center also emphasizes that a sanction against the import of Russian diamonds would make no difference to Russia.

“Countries like the United Arab Emirates and India have made their intentions very clear, they are ready to take over Antwerp’s diamond trade in the blink of an eye. Not only are thousands of jobs in Antwerp at stake in the short term, but in the long term this decision will inevitably lead to a global shift in the diamond trade. As long as international policymakers worldwide do not take a unanimous stance to sanction Russian diamonds in their entirety, Antwerp will be the only place to bear the consequences of an EU sanction,” said AWDC spokesman Tom Neys.

“Antwerp has been the diamond capital of the world for 575 years. We take that role very seriously,” Neys continues. The spokesperson therefore calls possible sanctions “a mistake of historic proportions”. We would get the exact opposite of what such a sanction claims to achieve, which is a safer world with a more sustainable diamond industry.