Disabling Russia from the SWIFT payment system will be a terrible mistake from which the European Union (EU) will suffer, said in an interview Die Welt Saturday, January 29, Friedrich Merz, chairman of the German opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.
“When Russia is disconnected from SWIFT, there is a great risk of a mistake that will lead to the collapse of this system and we may have to switch to the Chinese payment system. We will cause serious harm to ourselves,” he said.
Another EU mistake is the attempt to sign an association agreement with Ukraine, which violates trade agreements between Moscow and Kiev.
“We in the EU must respect the fact that countries that, for example, enter into association or free trade agreements with the European Union, may at the same time have obligations to other economic zones,” the politician stressed.
Friedrich Merz added that after being elected leader of the party, it is necessary to fundamentally reconsider some foreign policy issues.
“The first one is how the CDU treats Russia. We need more clarity there,” he said.
Earlier, on January 14, Bundestag MP from the Alternative for Germany, Mariana Harder-Kühnel, said that Russia’s disconnection from SWIFT would have serious consequences, especially for energy prices in Germany.
As the head of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, Oliver Hermes, stressed on January 12, Russia’s disconnection from SWIFT will create serious problems in the financial market of the West. According to him, in such a scenario, financial institutions working with Russia will suffer special economic damage.
US Senator Jean Shaheen said on January 20 that the United States is conducting an analysis of the possible damage to the West if Russia disconnects from SWIFT. A spokesman for the US National Security Council told Reuters that “evaluating potential side effects and finding ways to reduce these effects is good management and standard practice.”
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