Germany and France oppose the efforts of the European Union to restrict the import of luxury goods, particularly cars, into Russia via Belarus, the Politico newspaper reports.
‘Germany opposes the efforts of the European Union to close the loophole, which allows the goods of the upper price segment, in particular luxury cars, to enter Russia through Belarus,’ the newspaper writes. According to three interlocutors of the newspaper, France also does not support the introduction of the EU restrictions in this direction.
According to a French diplomat, Paris is in favour of ‘tough sanctions against countries, circumventing sanctions,’ but the focus should be on ‘goods that serve Russia's military efforts.’ The German diplomat also noted that Germany supports strong measures against sanctions circumvention, but believes that special attention should be paid to goods that are related to Russia's military efforts.
‘If we take weak measures against Belarus, knowing that goods come to Moscow through Minsk, it's a bit ridiculous,’ one of the diplomats told the newspaper.
According to the newspaper, the position of Berlin and Paris has led to the fact that the EU is considering the possibility to separate similar restrictions against Belarus from the 14th package of sanctions against Russia in order to conclude an agreement in time for the G7 summit to be held in Italy on 13-15 June.
Earlier, a senior European source said that the EU was working on the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, especially on measures against circumvention of existing restrictions. EUobserver reported that the EU countries wanted to agree on the sanctions package by July.
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