By IRNA
Berlin : German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel lashed out at French President Nicolas Sarkozy for pressing ahead with the sale of nuclear technology to Arab states, warning of the proliferation risk of atomic weapons, the Oldenburg-based Nordwest Zeitung newspaper reported Monday.
Gabriel rejected promoting German nuclear exports to other states, citing political considerations.
The minister’s latest remarks followed earlier criticism by two leading lawmakers of the co-ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the opposition Free Democratic Party who harshly criticized France’s planned nuclear cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Talking with Sunday’s edition of the Berlin-based Tagesspiegel newspaper, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, Ruprecht Polenz, said, “I am very irritated that France wants to press ahead with the expansion of civilian atomic energy in the (Persian Gulf) region.”
Early this week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE where he signed a civilian nuclear accord with Abu Dhabi.
Polenz lambasted Sarkozy’s nuclear proliferation plans, while urging a “united policy” of European Union states in the Persian Gulf region.
The remarks of the CDU legislator were echoed by Werner Hoyer of the liberal Free Democrats who pointed to previous French nuclear agreements with oil-rich Arab countries like Libya and Algeria.
Branding French atomic technology exports to the Arab world as “Sarkozy’s nuclear roadshow”, Hoyer stressed that this policy did not correspond with the “image of a responsible export policy which always keeps an eye on the proliferation risk.”
Last summer, the German government had lashed out at the controversial French-Libyan nuclear deal, saying it was aimed against German interests.