- On July 7, 2022, the German government made a plea to the Canadian government to release turbine equipment caught up in sanctions against Russia, which Russia claims are critical for gas flows to Europe.
- On July 10, 2022, Canada acquiesced to German pressure and granted a time-limited and revocable permit for Siemens Canada to allow the return of repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany.
- This permit results in the circumvention of sanctions established by global democracies. It further set a dangerous precedent that will lead to continued Russian blackmail and further weakening of international sanctions.
- Weakening of energy sanctions supplies Russia, a terrorist state, with the tools it needs to finance its war machine, killing tens of thousands of innocent lives.
- UWC is dismayed that Germany is rejecting the reasonable alternative of obtaining increased gas supply through the Ukrainian pipeline which has the capacity and was previously a source of supply.
- On July 12, 2022, Ukrainian World Congress filed an application for judicial review in Canada, which:
- requests a declaration that the decision to provide a permit to Siemens was unreasonable and unauthorized and an order quashing the permit
- if the court decides that the decision to grant the permit was unreasonable, it can quash the permit, effectively upholding the sanctions regime
- The legal action taken by the Ukrainian World Congress is meant to set the precedent that remaining Nord Stream 1 turbines should not be serviced on Canadian soil and sanctions in place should not be waived. Instead, this application for judicial review should set the stage for all parties involved to find a solution which does not trade turbines for Ukrainian lives.
