The head of the Crimean regional German national-cultural autonomy, Yuri Gempel, said on January 23 that he was disappointed with the commitment of the new head of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Armin Laschet to the anti-Russian sanctions policy.
“Such a position causes only disappointment and surprise, to what extent people can be mistaken in their shortsightedness and stupidity,” Hempel said in an interview with “RIA News”…
At the same time, in his opinion, there are more and more sane politicians in Europe who give a negative assessment of the sanctions policy.
Earlier on the same day, Lashet said that there were no reasons for lifting restrictive measures against Russia, writes “Gazeta.ru”…
Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, was appointed head of the Christian Democratic Union on January 22.
In June 2020, the Council of the European Union approved a decision to extend the restrictions on Russia over Crimea for another year. In August, this decision was also approved by the partner countries of the European Union: Montenegro, Albania, members of the European free trade zone Norway and Iceland, as well as Ukraine and Georgia.
Crimea returned to Russia in 2014 following a referendum, in which 96.7% of the inhabitants of the peninsula and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters spoke in favor of reunification. Kiev refuses to recognize the voting results and periodically announces plans to return the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called the Crimean issue closed.
