US President Donald Trump has struck a diesel deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin while the EU is struggling to reach a consensus on the next package of sanctions against Moscow. At the same time, voices within the EU are increasingly calling into question aid for Ukraine. Commentators ask how Europe should position itself to find an appropriate response.
Cohesion is a challenge
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Politiken analyses the role of special interests in the haggling over EU sanctions against Russia (Denmark):
“During the negotiations on the EU’s 21st sanctions package this summer, Germany, for example, blocked a ban on Russian Alaska pollock. Why? Because it could jeopardise German production of fish fingers and put jobs at risk. Greece secured a provision allowing Greek shipping companies to continue transporting Russian liquefied natural gas to third countries even though imports to the EU will be banned as of next year. … Austria, France, and Italy pursued other special interests. All this makes it easier for Donald Trump to denounce the Europeans’ hypocrisy. His latest gestures towards Putin should therefore also serve as a wake-up call for Europeans themselves.”
Don’t lose sight of the battle against corruption
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany) takes a worried look at the situation in Germany:
“The Ukrainian government is partly to blame for the waning support for Ukraine in Germany. It is dragging out reforms while at the same time expecting rapid EU accession. No voter or taxpayer will take kindly to a country demanding billions of euros when it is facing new corruption investigations. ... We can see in Saxony-Anhalt what lies ahead if the AfD, either alone or in alliance with the pro-Moscow BSW, gains positions of power. A government has yet to be formed there, but the two parties have already jointly tabled a symbolic motion opposing sanctions against Russia and aid to Ukraine.”
Other Topics of Interest
Moscow Arrests Swede Accused of Planning Attacks
The agency said a criminal case had been opened on charges including terrorism and mercenary activity.
Up the pressure on Russian tankers
Europe can and must respond, La Stampa (Italy)ninsists:
“Most of the Russian diesel is loaded there [at Primorsk] and must be transported via the Baltic Sea, passing a number of EU countries in most of which these tankers are now subject to sanctions. EU countries and the UK have been tightening controls for a year now and could expand these measures further by seizing shadow fleet vessels that are subject to sanctions, and, for those not under sanctions, looking for other grounds to intervene.”
Question the strategy vis-à-vis Moscow
Sanctions against Russia are ineffective, argues columnist Karol Lovaš in Új Szó (Slovakia) :
“As a mocking statue of Trump was unveiled in the European Parliament, the US President was striking a deal with Putin. Like a true businessman – in his own interests and in the interests of the world. What is the European Union doing for its own good and for the good of the world? What is it doing for Europeans? ... All we are left with are the sanctions, the war in Ukraine and our own mistakes. ... I wonder who will be the first to say out loud that it was a mistake to cut ourselves off from Russian raw materials? What have the sanctions against Russia achieved, apart from creating an existential dependence on the US?”