EU Fails To Impose Any New Sanctions To Russia

EU Fails To Impose Any New Sanctions To Russia

The European Union failed to agree on a list of new sanctions for Vladimir Putin’s Russian Federation after the downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet over Ukraine. The plane was shot down by Russian backed rebels in Eastern Ukraine and caused the death of all on-board passengers most of which were EU citizens.

Out of the 298 people the airliner was carrying 193 were Dutch citizens which naturally increased expectations that politicians from the Netherlands would be the first to ask the EU parliament for a new set of sanctions for Russia. This, however, did not happen with most EU member states exercising caution rather than a tough stance on their former Soviet neighbour and its new expansionist tendencies.

The reason seems to be the large volume of trade between the two countries as well as the fact that Shell, the biggest corporation in the Netherlands, has become the largest investor in Russia’s Siberian gas fields. As Shell stock is mostly tied to the country’s pension funds a decrease in its value could have very serious repercussions on elderly and retired Dutch citizens.

Other EU key member states like Germany and France also strayed away from new sanctions as industrial and commercial ties with Russia could influence their economic growth. France also refused any sanctions for arms trade with the Russian Federation as they are currently contracted to build two Mistral-class helicopter ships for the former Soviet state. French President Francois Hollande declared that Russia has already paid for the order and a cancellation would cost France billions of euros.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday July 23 2014, 10:38 AM EDT. Ref: NY Times. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0