The European Union will prolong sanctions against Russia for six more months by the end of 2016, a high-ranking EU official said ahead of the bloc’s summit.
"Not one of EU countries has voiced concern over a possible extension of sanctions for six months like it was in summer. I have reasons to believe that it will be an easy and fast decision. Of course, it will happen this year," TASS cited a source as saying.
According to an official, the French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will urge EU countries to extend sanctions against Russia at the summit set to be held on December 15.
"I believe that EU countries will receive recommendations from Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande that economic sanctions imposed over Russia’s aggression against Ukraine should be extended," the source said noting that the extension of anti-Russian sanctions was on the EU summit agenda.
A member of the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that currently Western Europe is losing its last chance to save its reputation in a changing environment. "Now they are wondeing what the US position on the anti-Russian sanctions will be after Trump's approval as President. I think that right now the EU has a good chance to give up the sanctions on their own, because if the US does it first, it will be clear that Europe actually acts in the wake of the US. If the Americans do not give up sanctions, Brussels could give Washington an excuse to change its position. I think that the current EU leaders' policy, unfortunately, is not very independent," the expert said.
Political analyst expects that after Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel leave chair positions, positive changes in European politics are possible. "There will be changes in any case, first of all in France, as Franus Hollande will not run in the next year. At the same time, since France without Hollande will think in a different way, we can expect that Merkel will also start to behave differently. I think that in the spring of 2017 we will probably hear more clear signals of how the situation will develop," Vladimir Olenchenko pointed out.
The head of the Center for Strategic Development of the CIS Countries under the RAS Institute of Europe, Alexander Gusev, in turn, stressed that it is not the last extension of the EU sanctions. "I do not see any prerequisites to ensure that they will be removed in the near future. At the summit, which will take place in Brussels tomorrow and the day after, they will be extended, there can be no doubt about it," he said.
The expert reminded that Russia previously imposed response prohibitive measures against the European Union until December 31, 2017. "It is clear that the EU sanctions against our country will operate even during the next year. But a lot depends on the US position. But to be honest, this is hard to believe, because the US policy cannot undergo drastic changes due to certain objective circumstances," the analyst explained.
According to him, the negative role can be played by the situation in Syria, which does not satisfy the European leaders. "It is likely that, in addition to the "Ukrainian" sanctions, there will be "Syrian" sanctions as well," Gusev said.
