After visit to Crimea German deputies decide to start discussion on lifting of sanctions from Russia

Feb. 21, 2018 - PRLog -- Members of a delegation from Germany's regional parliaments, who visited the Crimea, intend to begin a discussion in their country on the need to lift anti-Russian sanctions. This was stated by a deputy from North Rhine-Westphalia Nick Fogel on the results of a week-long visit to the peninsula, which ended on February 9.

"After contacts with people here in Crimea, we can say for sure the sanctions should go, and we'll begin the discussions on revoking them after we return to Germany," said the deputy from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is the third largest in the Bundestag.

He also added that German residents, according to recent polls, feel sympathy for Russia.

Earlier at a meeting with deputies of the State Council of the Crimea, Nick Fogel drew attention to the fact that information in the Western media about the Crimea did not correspond to reality.

"The picture painted by our media suggests that the Crimea is an occupied and suppressed territory where there are soldiers all around and the people's eyes are full horror. Still, as far as I can see, our media are somewhat mistaken. We've have an opportunity of free communications with ordinary people and the impression we've gotten is that people are very satisfied and looking into the future with confidence. […] The world community will realize sooner or later that the mainstream media supply incorrect information on the Crimea. The dam has been broken and there's no stopping the flood. You can only wait," Nick Fogel said.

According to the Crimean State Council's Deputy Chairman for Interethnic Relations, Chair of Germans' regional national and cultural autonomy Yury Gempel during the visit, the German deputies "could personally get acquainted with the political, economic situation on the peninsula."

The guests visited the international children's center Artek, the airport being built in Simferopol, met with teachers and students of the university, as well as representatives of national public associations, members of the presidium of the State Council of the Crimea and head of the republic Sergey Aksenov.

"In an open dialogue, the German deputies publicly announced that their party was in favor of abolishing the sanction policy towards the Russian Federation, appreciated the Crimean referendum in 2014, were convinced of the great economic potential of the Crimea," the politician told PenzaNews.

He stressed that the republic's authorities intend to further expand contacts with representatives of the public and the deputy corps of Germany and a number of other countries.

"Today we have a large number of appeals from politicians, businessmen, public figures from Germany, Austria, Norway with a request to participate in the IV International Economic Forum, which will be held on April 19–21 in the Crimea," he explained.

Commenting on the results of the visit of German MPs to the peninsula, Aldo Ferrari, Head of the Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia Program at the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in Milan, Professor at Ca' Foscari University in Venice, said that Russia and European countries have the opportunity to establish dialogue and restore cooperation.

"Unfortunately the relations between Europe and Russia are in a very difficult period mainly because of the Ukrainian crisis. Yet, while the deadlock in the relations still seems a plausible scenario, it is not the only one we can imagine. Russia and the EU should resume dialogue on several issues, including the most difficult ones and engage in an active dialogue in order to restore friendly relations," the Italian analyst said.

The end of the mutual sanctions could really give a new enhancement to both European and Russian economies, he believes.

"The present day difficult political relations damage partnership that is strongly necessary in the light of the international political and economic scenario where many countries are rapidly emerging," Aldo Ferrari stressed.

In his opinion, the visit of German MPs to the peninsula is a very positive signal from the political point of view.

"The EU is slowly acknowledging the need to adopt a tailored approach in its relations with Russia. In spite of the strong rusophobic stances of many EU countries, a more active search for a thaw in the relations with Russia is clearly needed. I would like to express my personal hope that 2018 should be the time when both the EU and Russia demonstrate more creativity and audacity, starting from a genuine attempt to understand each other's point of view and interests," the expert said.

In turn, Patrick Sensburg, German MP from the CDU/CSU fraction, reminded that the MPs who visited the Crimea "are members of the right-wing-populist party, which, although being present in almost every German parliament, holds no position of responsibility or power within German politics."

"In our new coalition treaty the governing Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democrats have once again set out the principle, that the future of the sanctions depends on the implementation of the Minsk Protocol. This principle remains at the core of German policies in this regard and is backed by a broad consensus within the population and throughout the German Bundestag," the politician said.

He also stressed that despite the troublesome history, the economic relations between our two countries have always flourished when the circumstances allowed it.

"Therefore I am optimistic that our economic relations will return quickly to previous levels once the sanctions are gone. Maybe we could discuss in the near future the list of people sanctioned by the EU," Patrick Sensburg said.

Source: https://penzanews.ru/en/analysis/65107-2018