Romania, caught in African scandal of arms trade

Uganda has supplied arms imported from European countries, Romania included, towards South Sudan, despite of the arms embargo established by the European Union, a report issued by Conflict Armament Research reads, adding that the exporting countries were not aware of the arms transfer.

The report is the forensic image of the way the ban on arms transfer for the parties involved in the conflict have failed, said James Bevan, Executive Director with Conflict Armament Research organization, quoted by Associated Press and realitatea.net.

Thousands of assault weapons and millions of cartridges from Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia were exported to Uganda, which then exported them to the South Sudan authorities, despite the EU embargo on weapons, which targeted the civil conflict in the latter country.

There is no element to suggest that the exporting countries were accomplices, or that they were aware of what happened to the weapons, the same source reads.

After almost five years of fighting, the parties involved in the South Sudan civil war signed in September a peace agreement to put an end to the conflict in which almost 400,000 people have died and millions have taken refuge in the neighbouring countries.