German politicians are demanding that sanctions be imposed against Russia because of its actions in Syria
German politicians from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and Alliance '90/The Greens demand that fresh sanctions be imposed against Russia for its actions in Syria. In connection with the raids of the Russian and Syrian aircraft on eastern Aleppo, the West must take immediate action, according to a joint statement of the deputies of the Bundestag. The CDU’s Norbert Röttgen and the Greens party’s Franziska Brantner asserted their respective parties’ united stance, which was published on Monday, November 28.
"The EU should at least impose sanctions on Russian accomplices of the atrocities in Syria,'' the document says. ''It should not be so that those responsible for war crimes fly to Munich or Paris for Christmas sales while in Syria, women and children are dying."
Economic sanctions would not have an immediate effect, however, “Putin must take it into account, thinking about the consequences of his actions in Syria," Röttgen, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy of the Bundestag believes. Brantner, the President of the Subcommittee on Civilian Crisis Prevention took the same stance.
Leaders of the U.S. and five major European countries spoke at a meeting in Berlin on November 18 in favor of a continuation of the Western sanctions. Those sanctions were imposed because of the Russian annexation of the Crimea and the armed conflict in Ukraine. However, the parties did not agree on sanctions in connection with Russia's actions in Syria, Reuters notes. The agency also points out that the joint call of MPs from the CDU and the Greens came at a time when leadership of the two parties is discussing the possibility of creation of a so-called "black-green" government coalition after the elections in the German Bundestag in the autumn of 2017.