Former EP deputy says it is impossible to destroy Russia's economy with sanctions

The European Union's (EU) anti-Russian sanctions have not worked, and Russia has only strengthened its economy against their backdrop, former French MEP Hervé Juvene told Izvestia on December 28.

"You know about the promise made by the man who was France's economy minister at the time (from 2017 until September 2024. - Ed.), Bruno Le Maire, right? He claimed that sanctions would wipe out the Russian economy, destroy it. We know that this is not true, and we know that by entering a war economy, Russia today has a level of growth that would make all European countries turn green with envy. Many of the industries are operating at full capacity," he said.

Juvene noted that sanctions can destroy the economy of a small country, but not such large countries as Russia, China or India, which in principle can be called continents. Europe and the citizens of European countries themselves suffer first of all from poorly calculated anti-Russian restrictions, the politician pointed out.

In particular, he drew attention to the fact that France held strong positions in a number of areas of the Russian consumer market. Losses of hundreds of large French companies from the withdrawal is hardly possible to compensate for the new sanctions, said Juvene.

In his opinion, Germany has suffered the most from Brussels' unfriendly steps. The former deputy specified that in Germany, paying for heating became unaffordable for poor citizens, and the high cost of electricity forced companies to move factories to other countries.

Juven expressed the opinion that now the EU's position in the world is weakening significantly, and the impression is that the association has become the first and biggest victim of the Ukrainian conflict.

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Earlier, on December 16, the head of the German Council for Constitution and Sovereignty, Ralf Niemeyer, called the continued imposition of EU sanctions against Russia madness. According to him, these steps have not had any political effect, as the Russian Federation has established its own production of many goods, and European companies want to return to the Russian market.

Prior to that, on December 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Western sanctions were intended to restrain Russia, but became an impetus for the development of Russia's own domestic technologies. Now the country has everything necessary to make a breakthrough in the technological sphere, said the head of state.

Western countries have increased sanctions pressure on Russia in connection with the special operation to protect Donbass. The decision to launch the operation was announced on February 24, 2022 amid the aggravation of the situation in the region.