Baltic States – CIS, Direct Speech, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

Dear Mr. Barroso!

I am conveying the deepest concerns of my electorate with regard to imposition of mutual sanctions by the EU and Russia as well as my electorate’s worries about the fact that the EU leaders don’t seem to have a workable solution of the issue.

At the moment a very dangerous situation has been created when neither Western countries and Ukraine on the one side nor Russia on the other side don’t seek a compromise solution but try to win by using force. Every subsequent decision on sanctions is justified by preceding action of the opponent and it is deliberately made more destructive and painful for economy and population of the other party as well as for their own economy and people.

In 2014 exactly 100 years have passed since the beginning of the World War I that killed millions of people and left Europe in ruins. On the eve of that war similar processes occurred when countries took “the right” steps against each other and eventually were not able to stop. It is doubtful that in the end of that war anyone remembered for what good intentions it had started.

Leaders of the Western countries and Russia are absorbed in playing this risky poker while using well-being of their population as a stake. It is already obvious that there will be only losers in this game and those losers won’t be reckless and stubborn politicians but common people whose life in consequence of “the war of sanctions” will only change for the worse.

I was elected to the European Parliament by people of the country that will suffer the most among the other EU countries because of this “war”. According to estimates of Minister of economic affairs of Latvia, further increasing of volume of mutual sanctions of the EU and Russia can decrease the GDP of Latvia by 10%. It can throw Latvia into deep economic and social crisis. Thousands of Latvians may lose their jobs and their living standards will drop significantly.

In this connection I would like to call upon the European Commission:

• to stop escalation of “the war of sanctions” and implementation of forceful economic solutions;

• to activate negotiations between leaders of Russia and Ukraine and groups involved in the confrontation on seeking long-term peaceful resolution of conflict in the eastern Ukraine;

• to start negotiations with Russia on cancellation of already imposed mutual sanctions.

Sincerely,

MEP Andrejs Mamikins (Latvia)