No more shopping in Milan, parties in Saint-Tropez and diamonds in Antwerp - Result of sanctions

7 октября 2022
While some countries are trying to expand the zones of mutual trade and economic potential, the European Union is expanding only sanctions. Now they also apply to Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. 

But is there any point in restrictions, when, instead of shopping in Milan the Europeans go to Belarus for coal?  Learn the answers from the author's commentary by Maria Petrashko.

Instead of shopping in Milan, everyone goes to buy something in Belarus. Instead of parties in Saint-Tropez, there are protests across Europe. Sanctions work like a boomerang - we will tell you all the bright details.

No more shopping in Milan, no more parties in Saint-Tropez and no more diamonds in Antwerp. It was under these threats that the sanctions against Belarus and Russia were imposed. Guys, all the sanctions work, but rather against their authors themselves. Look, instead of shopping in Milan, real European shopping is now going on in Belarus. After all, everyone goes to us for coal, peat and cheaper gasoline.  Instead of parties in Saint-Tropez, there are real warming parties in protests against the short-sighted European government.  And if you are lucky, you can get a free shower from water cannons.

And what about the threat of sanctions: is there no more diamonds in Antwerp? There are really none. It is not for nothing that the European Union excluded the Russian diamond mining company Alrosa from the sanctions list. In general, Western partners somehow easily abandon their principles not only for the sake of diamonds. Today, both grain and potash fertilizers are worth their weight in gold. Therefore the restrictions on their supplies are removed. Or they even make a grain deal with the recalcitrant Erdogan just to cover up the partial removal of restrictions on their own saviors.

Alexey Samosuyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Finland and concurrently to Denmark:

"Western sanctions create a global raw material crisis in the countries that imposed them. The West is using illegal economic sanctions to strangle the Belarusian state. But such methods also affect Western citizens."

Of course, they affect Western citizens in the first place. The European Commission does not even exclude the possibility of a power outage in the EU countries in the winter. However, what to expect from politicians who poisoned migrants with ice water and pepper gas.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the French party "National Rally": The reality is that thanks to these sanctions, Russia has earned an additional 40 billion euros on oil exports. This winter will be hard for us, and the next one may be even harder.

Among other things, the world is threatened by a crisis of semiconductors, microcircuits. Thanks to the policy of Western officials, the global lockdown gave way to a number of problems, the disruption of logistics chains was strengthened by sanctions and economic confrontation between the United States and China. But here we have it again: sanctions are a time of opportunity. Our potash fertilizers are now much more expensive. Our grain is now much more valuable. I am not even talking bout our textiles, meat and dairy products, mechanical engineering. Yes, we know a lot and develop.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that the sphere of activity of the enterprise is the most difficult and problematic in the country, but extremely popular. "At recent talks, the President of Russia said: "We are ready to pay any money for a microelectronics product." To our credit, we have decently ruined this area in the post-Soviet space. And you can't do without it. Neither airplanes nor missiles fly without it, high-precision weapons do not work. Nothing works. Thank Goodness we kept that production. Therefore, it is not for nothing that I said that it is necessary to understand this production deeply, to organize the process. We need a breakthrough there, a major breakthrough," the Belarusian leader stressed.

"Both Russia and Belarus will invest in this area, because a global market is opening up. This will be a Belarusian-Russian, post-Soviet market. Yes, good products will be bought everywhere. But our competitors are frenzied. Thank Goodness they left our market. So, we will be in demand. Therefore, it is necessary to work together with Russia in this area. It will not be easy, so understand, delve into it," the President added.

For Belarus, by the way, the global market is opening up not only on the scale of the post-Soviet space. Most recently, Alexander Lukashenko accepted the credentials of the ambassadors of 11 states.

UAE, Argentina, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cuba, Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta, Myanmar, Palestine, Sudan, Switzerland. 

He recalled that Belarus not only ensures its food security, but can also act as its donor. "We are ready to resume cooperation in this vital area, especially in the supply of not only food, but also mineral fertilizers," Alexander Lukashenko said. "All that is needed is the political will of the ruling circles of the West." 

"Open the ports, open the door - we will bring you food and grain. Open it!" the President of Belarus said.

Now think about it. How much more profitable would it be, for example for Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen to move with production to Belarus, where both gas and light are much cheaper. Hands are definitely not worse. And the geographical location allows you to safely supply goods to Russia, to China, and to the whole East. European cars are not so much in demand in the United States, and the European market is not that large. Think about it, are the sanctions so successful if neither McDonald's, nor Coca-Cola, nor Zara and others left the Belarusian market? I will tell you a secret, they did not all leave the Russian one. They just renamed themselves competently. European business is looking for ways of cooperation. Belarus is always open. We have introduced visa-free travel, and we will help to chop wood, as long as necessary. I have said, and I will continue to say, that the sanctions are working simply against those who imposed these sanctions.  And all because competent politicians must be chosen!