Germany's economy is losing hundreds of millions of dollars due to the sanctions against Moscow that were introduced by the West over the Ukrainian crisis and Crimea's reunification with Russia, Bundestag member of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) Anton Friesen told Sputnik on Monday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2019) Germany's economy is losing hundreds of millions of Dollars due to the sanctions against Moscow that were introduced by the West over the Ukrainian crisis and Crimea's reunification with Russia, Bundestag member of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) Anton Friesen told Sputnik on Monday.
"Scientists from Germany's Kiel and from Hong Kong have recently conducted joint research stipulating that the German economy is losing $667 million per month due to the sanctions. Germany suffers the most considerable losses compared to other EU member states due to the sanctions against Russia, namely 38 percent of the total losses [of the EU]," the politician said.
According to Friesen, small and medium businesses in Germany need to be compensated for the sanction-induced losses, similar to the reimbursement that the agricultural sector received after the massive drop in the price of milk in 2015, which was connected to the Russian countersanctions against the EU.
"The German government should render such support. It is responsible for the decision on introducing sanctions by the EU, because had the decision been vetoed by Berlin, the sanctions would not be imposed," he added.
Friesen was the author of the parliamentary initiative by the AfD, which called on the EU to lift the sanctions on Russia. The initiative was rejected by the Bundestag on October 24.
The economic limitations were introduced following the eruption of the Ukrainian crisis and a 2014 referendum that allowed Crimea to be reunited with Russia. Western countries accused the Kremlin of interfering in Ukraine's affairs, but Moscow refuted the allegations and retaliated by switching over to an import phase-out and imposing countersanctions.
Some EU countries have recently begun questioning the effectiveness of the sanctions and started looking for different solutions to problems between Russia and the EU.
