German deputy criticizes European sanctions against Russia
The deputy German parliament member for the left bloc, Andrej Hunko, expressed that European sanctions against Russia may lead to deepening differences, and that the two parties must cooperate to respond to contemporary challenges.
“Relations between the European Union and Russia have reached an historic lowest level, and this is very unfortunate,” Hunko said.
It is possible that recent decisions on imposing sanctions will help deepen this further.
He pointed out that the European Union’s steps aimed at bringing charges against Russia and imposing sanctions on it “contradict the principles of the rule of law,” adding that similar violations should be punished.
He also expressed his wish that Russia and the European Union unite their efforts to combat the Coronavirus epidemic and global warming and confront other threats that the world faces, instead of destroying relations between them.
He said, “For this, the two parties must be ready to take measures on their way to reduce tension,” explaining that the European Union must return to preserving relations with Russia on the basis of mutual respect.
Last Tuesday, the European Union imposed new sanctions on 4 Russian citizens, due to the arrest of Russian opposition Alexei Navalny.
The list of new sanctions includes the names of the head of the Russian Investigation Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, the Director of the Russian Guard Forces, Viktor Zolotov, the Russian Prosecutor General, Igor Krasnov, and the head of the Federal Judicial Police, Alexander Kalashnikov.
