German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office has issued a statement expressing concern about the US Senate’s vote to impose new sanctions on Russia, warning that they are prepared to retaliate if the sanctions end up harming German companies.
This is a realistic concern. The new sanctions imposed by the Crapo Amendment target Russia’s mining industry as well as attempting to curb foreign investment in its energy industry. German and other European energy companies have considerable such investments.
German companies Wintershall and Uniper in particular are heavily investing in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, an intended Baltic natural gas pipeline to provide Russian gas imports to northern Europe. Most of the nations in northern Europe, particularly Germany, are heavily dependent on Russia as a source of natural gas.
Merkel’s spokesman insisted it was “peculiar” that the US Senate would try to punish Russia for allegations of election interference by imposing sanctions that mostly threatened European companies that are securing energy imports, and threatened to respond if the US tries to do so.
Just a little hiccup of the puppets. Once another few billion NATO dollars ensure emplyoment of the bureaucrats, things will go on.
What few billions of NATO dollars? there is no such thing. The NATO Alliance has no central pool of money resources to be dished out, each member country is suppose to be spending at the very least 2% of their own national GDP on their own military full stop.
So, perhaps we just need to say “US taxpayer dollars”. All of those bases, all of those troop deployments are a spending of US taxpayer dollars and that this benefits the host country and the local economies. Bars and other off-base businesses, various out-sourcing and supply contracts ….. all of these provide a transfer of money from US taxpayers to the host country.
I’d like to know which American businesses would be hurt by the German retaliation. That will outline the pressures on Congress as this sanctions bill moves forward to the House and possible conference committee.
Finally… FINALLY… the Germans stand up to reckless US militarism and aggression… If they had done the same in the Middle East with the rest of NATO, they would not be flooded with war and economic refugees tearing the place apart
They only care about the money, not about the immorality and lack of justification for these sanctions.
Really the USA is going overboard about the stupid lies about Russia when there are real dangers to the USA and the rest of us from nuclear madness, global warming, wars, diseases which are REAL and need to be addressed. Trump has already alienated most of the USA’s “allies” except KSA and Israel (of course) and needs to stop the continual dominating pettiness of a stern headmaster to his underlings;
The amendment is aptly named.
Victoria Nuland will be pleased her suggestion is being acted on.
Europeans could grow a backbone when it comes to their relationship with the U.S.? Who knew?
LF