As the European Union considers tighter sanctions against Russia, some member states raise concerns about effects on their economies - and the temperatures in their living rooms, reports GHN based on dw.de
The EU is horrified. It is becoming more and more evident that the Russian military is present in eastern Ukraine - and the number of its soldiers is growing. All offers of talks in Moscow have produced nothing more than a brief respite and a few warm words from President Vladimir Putin, while the Russian advance continued during the negotiations. But EU countries have ruled out military intervention as well as weapons deliveries to the Ukrainian army.
Instead, they want to tighten the sanctions screw even further. The EU has has already reached its third level of sanctions. These affect not only individuals and companies, but entire industries, including finance, armaments and other key technical sectors. For its part, Russia has responded with an extensive embargo on European food that hits some countries hard.
Until now, European businesses and trade unions have more or less reluctantly supported the sanctions. But the closer a concrete decision on new sanctions comes, the greater the resistance.
France has stopped the delivery of the first of two helicopter carriers to Russia. The ships were built in a French shipyard, with the first set to be handed over to the Russian navy in October. Although the EU has in fact banned such classical weapons shipments since July, the EU leaders decided France could complete deliveries that had already been ordered.
This is a matter of more than a billion euros that the ailing French industry could well use, but that didn't stop criticism from raining down on the French government before its decision to stop the delivery. Some MEPs even made the desperate proposal that the EU should buy the ships from France to deny Russia such effective offensive weapons.
Only now has the French government taken action. President Francois Hollande said in a statement: "The conditions for delivery are not met. Russia's recent actions are aimed at the foundations of European security."
But Hollande has not ruled out a later delivery. That would be covered by the sanctions, though highly controversial politically.
