Europe has agreed to further sanctions against Russia in response to the shootdown of MH17:
The EU will widen its sanctions against Russia to include more individuals and consider targeting the defence sector, the Dutch foreign minister says. Frans Timmermans said “unanimous” and “forceful” decisions had been taken on enhanced sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict.
….A new sanctions list naming individuals and organisations will be drawn up by EU ambassadors by Thursday, Mr Timmermans told reporters after meeting his EU colleagues in Brussels. He said there was also agreement that the European Commission would look at further measures to be taken against Russia in the fields of defence, concerning “dual-use goods in the field of energy”, and in financial services.
The Telegraph reports that not everyone is impressed:
[The sanctions] are not likely to satisfy not the United States and more hawkish members of the EU, including Poland and the Baltic states, who lobbied for tough sanctions against the Russian economy. In their conclusions, the ministers said they would only ask the 28-nation bloc’s executive arm to prepare for more forceful economic sanctions — including targeting the arms, energy and financial sectors.
No surprises here. Most European leaders are willing to do more, but not too much more. They simply have too much invested in their economic ties with Russia to take more drastic steps.
