IAccording to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the exclusion of Russia from the banking communication network will have SWIFT Annalena Barbocki “Huge collateral damage” – and could even put German energy supplies at risk. The Greens politician said on ARD on Friday that even energy imports cannot be financed if Russia is kept out of SWIFT.
Regarding the Russian attack on Ukraine, Barbock said: “We will do whatever we can to stop this madness. But we also have to make sure that we don’t choose the tools at which Putin laughs.” Because they hit us too hard.”
Read F+ now for free for 30 days and get access to all articles on FAZ.NET.
50 percent of hard coal imports came from Russia, Berbock said: “If we don’t have this coal, coal-fired power plants in Germany will not be able to continue.” The government is exploring alternatives under high pressure, but can no longer correct the mistakes of the past. “And of course we are responsible for ensuring that we continue to have a steady supply of electricity and heat in Germany.”
If Germany and other European countries were to have problems there now, it would be something that Putin also wanted, “destabilizing our country,” Beerbock clarified. “If our electricity stops working properly for a few days, we’ll have a real problem.” This doesn’t mean that Germany doesn’t even charge the cost, energy prices will go up.
Bairbock said Germany and its allies are looking at measures that will hit the Russian center of power the most over the past few weeks: “Of course we also looked at Swift and saw that an exclusion would cause massive collateral damage. “
Financial transactions are not only financial transactions by oligarchs, but also payments that Germany makes to civil society in Russia, for example, or in the cultural sphere. It is also about transactions in the private sector.
On Friday, EU foreign ministers decided on a major sanctions package after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. It is about cutting off Russian banks from the financial markets of the European Union. However, there is criticism that Russia’s boycott from SWIFT is not among the sanctions. In addition, one of the most important banks will be exempted from the penalty.,
Bairbock said the sanctions now decided against Russian banks, for example, are more targeted than SWIFT exclusions. In addition, the Russian President Vladimir Putin Have already discovered ways to handle transactions differently. The European Union imposed personal sanctions on Russian President Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. America followed suit.
Introvert. Proud beer specialist. Coffee geek. Typical thinker. Pop culture trailblazer. Music practitioner. Explorer.
