{"id":208646,"date":"2015-12-14T17:00:13","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T17:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=208646"},"modified":"2015-12-14T22:33:55","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T22:33:55","slug":"208646","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/latest-news\/208646\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkel Under Pressure: EU Countries Resisting Russia Sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de\/2015\/12\/14\/merkel-unter-druck-eu-staaten-leisten-widerstand-gegen-russland-sanktionen\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Merkel Under Pressure: EU Countries Resisting Russia Sanctions<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

German Economic News<\/a><\/span>, translation by Eric Zuesse\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Published:14:12:15 13:15\u00a0Clock<\/span><\/p>\n

The EU is in the surprising situation of needing to deal, at its upcoming summit meeting at the end of this week, with the question of whether to extend sanctions against Russia.\u00a0It had been expected to be an automatic continuation on account of Angela Merkel\u2019s routinely doing whatever Washington says. But some European nations are clenching their fists and resisting her leadership on this particular matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EU summit this Thursday and Friday is consequently surprised to have to deal with the extension of economic sanctions against Russia.<\/b>\u00a0The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, on Monday the 14th, at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels,\u00a0stunned people by placing this question onto the agenda<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0She\u00a0tried to downplay the matter by saying that doing this is routine in cases where any Member State might dissent from a consensus. Last week,\u00a0Italy, in particular, said that\u00a0it was opposed to extending sanctions, and therefore any extension would require high-level talks<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sanctions are hated by many states:<\/b>\u00a0sanctions\u00a0have increased European unemployment.\u00a0However, economic reasons may not be formally stated as a reason for pressuring national politicians; but, suddenly, the EU now resists paying the economic price for its bondage to the U.S., and for doing the bidding of America\u2019s key European agent Angela Merkel.\u00a0Most EU member states had, in fact, already rejected these sanctions at the outset. US Vice President Joe Biden publicly admitted that the United States needed to force the EU to cooperate.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, some European capitals clench fists in their pockets, because the penalties the individual economies suffer from the sanctions impose a significant competitive disadvantage:<\/b>\u00a0In Italy, the former EU President Romano Prodi<\/span><\/a>\u00a0warned early on, that they\u2019d produce\u00a0an economic disaster.\u00a0The Greeks were always against the sanctions, and could bide time stalling for an extra deal on the bailouts.\u00a0Justification now:\u00a0The bankrupt state must now spend additional billions for refugee measures<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0Hungary is fighting against the EU because of the\u00a0energy<\/span><\/a>\u00a0policy [especially gas].\u00a0Austria has taken serious damage, which even incited the prudent President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce to a\u00a0tantrum<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0The French have taken a two-pronged approach: They carry the sanctions officially, but deal unofficially with the Russians.\u00a0Recently there was a French agreement with an\u00a0aircraft\u00a0carrier<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0in Syria there is an unofficial Russian-French partnership.\u00a0Even the German economy dares discreetly to be rambunctious against Angela Merkel: the\u00a0Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations<\/span><\/a>\u00a0stands\u00a0strictly against the sanctions.\u00a0However, its chairman Ekkehard Cordes has resigned.Whether the resignation in connection with his criticism of Merkel stands is unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EU had imposed economic sanctions against Russia in 2014 after the downing of the passenger plane MH17 above Ukraine in\u00a0<\/b>July of last year.\u00a0The sanctions depend on measures against Russian state-owned banks, the import and export of arms, as well as major Russian oil and gas firms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the current situation, sanctions expire at the end of January 2016.\u00a0The cited reason for the sanctions has been that Russia had shot down the MH17 plane.\u00a0However, everything indicates that it was instead likely to have been an erroneous firing by the rebels in Ukraine’s east.\u00a0That\u2019s the basis for having imposed the sanctions.\u00a0The EU-funded government in Kiev is at least partly to blame, however: They were obligated to close the airspace over the Donbass for civilian flights because of the fighting, but they didn\u2019t do that. And yet the sanctions are only against Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, the EU required that a full implementation of the Minsk Agreement would be needed before sanctions would end.<\/b>\u00a0This was supposed to occur by 31 December 2015.\u00a0But recently, among other things the agreed ceasefire had become brittle and the preparations of regional elections that are also required under the Minsk agreement are several months in arrears.\u00a0Ukraine has launched several provocations, such as the interruption of power supply in the Crimea by neo-Nazi attacks, but this has been ignored by the EU.\u00a0Also\u00a0not considered is that Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the rebels vigorously in the early summer, to cease hostilities [despite continuation of attacks by the other side, which the EU also ignores].<\/span><\/p>\n

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentilioni is determined that despite the obvious resistance in individual EU member states, the\u00a0Russian sanctions must be \u201con the table\u201d at the summit on Thursday and Friday<\/b>.\u00a0He expects “no big discussion,” he said, according to AFP.\u00a0Nobody was against the “punitive measures,\u201d he said.\u00a0But the summit was to assess where the issue of Minsk stands.\u00a0If certain countries have additional needs for discussion, it was not a problem.\u00a0These are rather “technical” issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) will inform his colleagues, according to diplomats on Monday, on the progress in the implementation of Minsk.\u00a0After there had been in recent weeks, “significant setbacks” in securing the ceasefire, it was again quiet, he said in Brussels.\u00a0“We are now focused on the preparation of the legal basis for elections, which will take place next spring.” That is clear, however, “very, very tedious work is ahead”.\u00a0The sanctions issue was ignored by Steinmeier.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Basically, any EU country could block the sanctions with a veto.<\/b>\u00a0But this will probably not happen:\u00a0In all EU member states either massive economic pressure is exerted, because they are net\u00a0<\/b>recipients;\u00a0or else the states have very weak governments, such as Austria, whose Chancellor Faymann has his back up against the wall because of Austria\u2019s embarrassing crisis management in the refugee issue.\u00a0All other States will keep themselves covered so as not to fall into Angela Merkel\u2019s firing-line. She is responsible for the renewal of sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EU plays in this process an awkward role:<\/b>\u00a0it does what the US demands.\u00a0This week, a traveling extraordinary commissioner is being sent\u00a0through Europe<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to “help\u201d persuade recalcitrant members of the EU.<\/span><\/p>\n

EU President Jean-Claude Juncker lives up to his reputation yet again: using <\/b>falsehoods<\/span><\/a>\u00a0as a legitimate weapon:<\/b>\u00a0A few weeks ago Juncker had said that the EU should aim for a normalization of relations with Russia.\u00a0Probably he\u00a0wanted, by this trick, to win time and lull his critics into a false sense of security.<\/span><\/p>\n

The timing was chosen deliberately:\u00a0A few days before Christmas, there are no revolutions in European\u00a0<\/b>politics.\u00a0On several occasions important decisions have been made so that no more time for consultations would be available.\u00a0Next Monday, the politicians in the EU and in the Member States say goodbye, closed for business during the Christmas holidays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

TRANSLATOR\u2019S CONCLUSION:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The December 31st deadline is thus pushed forward to December 18th. And, if there still remains a holdout, a veto, by Italy or any other nation, then something will be worked out, some price will be paid, someone will be bought off. The American aristocracy\u2019s war against Russia will not tolerate resistance within the alliance. The members of the gang always stick together. No matter how much the real blame might happen to be on the U.S. and its Ukrainian stooges<\/span><\/a>, and no matter how much Russia might actually be simply responding to their infractions, the gang will hold together. Because, if one member steps out, he\u2019ll be shot. So, the European people are being impoverished, and even attacked by terrorists and flooded with refugees from America\u2019s serial invasions, but Europe\u2019s \u2018leaders\u2019 want above all to be \u2018leaders\u2019; so, they comply. And that\u2019s the way the world works: it works top-down, nowadays.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

The translator, investigative historian Eric Zuesse, is the author, most recently, of They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/i><\/span><\/a>,<\/i> and of \u00a0<\/i>CHRIST\u2019S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de\/2015\/12\/14\/merkel-unter-druck-eu-staaten-leisten-widerstand-gegen-russland-sanktionen\/ Merkel Under Pressure: EU Countries Resisting Russia Sanctions German Economic News, translation by Eric Zuesse\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Published:14:12:15 13:15\u00a0Clock The EU is in the surprising situation of needing to deal, at its upcoming summit meeting at the end of this week, with the question of whether to extend sanctions against Russia.\u00a0It had been expected to be an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1254,"featured_media":208650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,18],"tags":[115,1036,96,1035,535,59,804,524,92,523,49,1235,76,40,1024],"class_list":{"0":"post-208646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"category-latest-news","9":"tag-barack-obama","10":"tag-breaking-news","11":"tag-cover-up","12":"tag-daily-news","13":"tag-global-news","14":"tag-military","15":"tag-politics-2","16":"tag-russia","17":"tag-terrorism","18":"tag-ukraine","19":"tag-usa-news","20":"tag-war","21":"tag-warfare","22":"tag-white-house","23":"tag-ww3"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}