Finland supports EU sanctions against Russia – RBC

Finland supports EU sanctions against Russia – RBC

Finland supports EU sanctions against Russia and approved them on Friday. Commented on the Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb (Coalition Party) the imposition of new sanctions by the end of the extraordinary meeting of the Ministerial Committee for European Affairs at a press conference the government sends yle.fi

According to Alexander Stubb, direct impact of sanctions on the EU for Finland would not be significant. However, the Prime Minister is concerned about the indirect effects and the effects of possible counter-sanctions Russia.

«Finland supported the line all the time in relation to the EU sanctions against Russia”, – said the prime minister, but added that he considers the schedule of administration sanctions rather tense.

According to Today newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing a statement Alexander Stubb. Finland’s position is that the EU has to wait for the introduction of new economic sanctions against Russia. “Finland as a whole does not believe that now is the right time [for sanctions],” – said Alexander Stubb. He added that “more will be discussions about the extent to which [sanctions] will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union».

The publication notes that Finland has a common border with Russia and the profits from tourism and trade with its eastern neighbor. Earlier, during the Ukrainian crisis, Finland was among the members of the EU, which questioned the feasibility of increasing the economic pressure on the Russian Federation.

Recall on Monday the country – members of the European Union agreed on an extension of sectoral sanctions against Russia. In a statement, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said that they will come into force after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

The publication, he said, will take place “in the next few days.” “This will allow time to assess the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace plan. Depending on the situation the EU is ready to reconsider the sanctions agreed fully or partially, “- said in a statement.

Approval of new sanctions is not smooth. It was expected that the decision will be announced at 20:00 MSK, but countries – EU members reached a consensus after about three hours. Reuters referring to European diplomatic sources reported that some EU countries want to discuss the possibility of deposition of new sanctions if a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine between Kiev and militias will be respected.

The new sanctions are expected to involve limit access to the capital market, defense industry, and dual-use goods. As reported by The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, who reviewed the draft sanctions against Russia, the EU measures will affect defense companies (“Oboronprom” United Aircraft Corporation, UralVagonZavod and concern “Kalashnikov”), energy (“Gazprom Neft” “Transneft” and “Rosneft”), as well as the financial sector (Sberbank, VTB and a number of other Russian state-owned banks).

In an interview with the newspaper “Vedomosti” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday that if Brussels will impose sanctions against Russia, Moscow will give them “asymmetrical response”. As one of the possible measures Medvedev called the closure of Russian airspace for western airlines.

September 9, 2014

RBC