1000s of Italians protest EU sanctions against Russia
Thousands of people have staged a demonstration in the Italian city of Verona to express their opposition to the extension of EU sanctions against Russia.
Some 10,000 people, mainly farmers, took to the streets in Verona to slam the EU’s prolongation of anti-Moscow sanctions, which have prompted a Russian ban on food imports from the West.
Italian Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies Minister Maurizio Martina and a number of local officials also took part in the rally.
Last week, EU ambassadors agreed to extend anti-Russia sanctions by six months until the end of January 2017 over Moscow’s alleged role in the Ukraine conflict. The decision will come into effect in the coming days.
“There’s nothing stopping the extension of the sanctions,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier this week, noting that the move “is sadly necessary.”
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the EU decision with signing a decree to extend the existing embargo on imports of agricultural produce, dairy, meat and most other foods from the West until December 31, 2017.
This is while major EU powers are now divided over the future of the sanctions policy towards Moscow.
NATO wants the economic sanctions to remain on Russia until Moscow “changes its behavior” regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
However, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier slammed NATO for its bellicose policy towards Russia earlier this month and urged the Western military alliance to consider lifting the anti-Moscow bans in phases.
His French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault also called on EU leaders to hold talks on possible offers for the easing of anti-Moscow bans if there is progress in the implementation of the peace deals on Ukraine.
The West’s sanctions against Russia were initially introduced after the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula declared independence from Ukraine and voted for reunification with the Russian Federation in March 2014.
Washington and its European allies accuse Moscow of destabilizing Ukraine. Moscow, however, rejects having a hand in the crisis gripping the Eastern European state.
Ukraine’s eastern provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April 2014 to crush pro-Moscow protests there. The crisis has left around 9,400 people dead and over 22,000 others injured.
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