Extension of anti-Russian sanctions could exhaust Europeans’ patience – parliament speaker

The extension of anti-Russian sanctions could exhaust the patience of ordinary Europeans, the speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, Sergey Naryshkin, wrote in his column “Unlearnt lessons of morality” published on the website of the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

In Naryshkin’s view, “Europe is in for a series of new and serious shocks, and it is caused by nothing else than immoral behavior of the EU authorities.”

“Even before the referendum in Greece, it was clear that the tactic of blackmail, just as scandals thoroughly hidden inside the European Union, will soon go public. And the extension of anti-Russian sanctions could become the last drop that makes the cup run over,” he stressed.

He noted growing public discontent with the EU policy regarding Greece.
For incorporation of Crimea after last year’s coup in Ukraine, Russia came under sanctions on the part of the United States and many European countries. The restrictive measures were soon intensified following Western and Ukrainian claims that Russia supported militias in self-proclaimed republics in Ukraine’s southeast and was involved in destabilization of Ukraine.

As countermeasures, Russia imposed on August 6, 2014 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United States and Norway.
The Russian authorities have repeatedly denied accusations of “annexing” Crimea, because Crimea reunified with Russia voluntarily after a referendum, as well as claims that Moscow could in any way be involved in hostilities in Ukraine’s east.