EUROPE - The “ice age” against Moscow must be ended, the chairperson of Germany's Die Linke (Left Party) has stated, adding that sanctions against Russia hurt European companies. Speaking to Germany's Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper on Saturday, Sahra Wagenknecht said the ice age in relation to Russia has to be ended. “It is in Europe's interest to come together and talk about how we can achieve security and disarmament," she said, noting that European sanctions against Moscow “primarily harm European and German companies.”
Wagenknecht isn't alone in her opinion. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke out against the demonization of Russia in April. “We cannot declare Russia as a whole, the country and its people, to be an enemy,” he said. “Our history speaks against it, and there is too much at stake.” That opinion is backed by the vast majority of Germans, according to a recent poll conducted by the Forsa Institute on behalf of the Wiese Consult group. More than 90 percent of Germans surveyed said they want better relations with Russia.
Those opinions span far beyond Germany, however, with Italian Lega Nord regional leader Paolo Grimoldi telling RT on Saturday that he does not understand why European economies have to “suffer” because “some people in Crimea held a referendum and decided to join Russia.”