Danger of war worried Minister: Habeck: “Sanctions also affect the German economy”

Danger of war worried Minister
Habeck: “Sanctions also affect the German economy”

Economics Minister Habeck is again threatening to impose severe sanctions on Moscow should an attack on Ukraine take place. However, he makes it clear that German companies would also suffer. SPD General Secretary Kühnert speaks out against further sanctions.

Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck expects massive economic consequences for Germany in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. You have to say clearly “that sanctions will also hit our own economy hard,” Habeck told the Düsseldorf “Handelsblatt”. That is “also clear to our companies”.

If “Russia escalates the conflict further, the European Union, in consultation with its partners, will respond with tough economic sanctions,” Habeck said. He assessed the current situation in the conflict with Russia as “more than threatening”. Europe is so close to war as it hasn’t been in decades – with unforeseeable consequences.

The CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen agreed with assessments that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had already “made his decision”. However, one does not yet know “which, when and how he will proceed,” he told the “Rheinische Post”. But the situation that has arisen is already “a historical turning point”.

SPD general secretary Kevin Kühnert rejects further sanctions against Russia at this point in time. Ukraine had requested this. Kühnert tells the “Rheinische Post” that although the situation is extremely threatening, “further levels of escalation can still be prevented,” says Kühnert.

“Smart politics are those that prepare for all scenarios and still don’t fall into fatalism.” International diplomacy must not panic. But it is clear that if Ukraine is attacked, all options are on the table, including the controversial Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline.

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