Several countries in the EU are skeptical of economic sanctions on Russia, so they are ready to lobby for lifting those punitive measures. The association of Italian manufacturers raised a voice in support of Russia, their long-lasting commercial partner. Indeed, Russia is Italy's eighth largest exports market. However, the crisis in Ukraine put Italy in an awkward situation: Rome was forced to follow the official EU policy on Russia, yet it wanted to preserve its ties with Moscow. Rome voted for the sanctions on Russia but called on caution and moderation in the introduction of the punitive measures. Indeed, Italian manufacturers incurred massive losses caused by restrictions on the cooperation with Russia. So, they supported the idea of lifting the economic sanctions in an effort to tackle the tricky situation. “Rome has reiterated since February that the Council of Ministers will not vote for extending the sanctions. We believe in Russia as a thriving country and reliable partner,” said Federico Eichberg, senior advisor to Foreign Trade Vice Minister. Interestingly, nowadays a lot of policymakers and officials from the European Union are trying to solve their domestic problems playing on the refusal to support the sanctions. However, most of such hypocrites are heavily indebted and lack political influence. For instance, Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also joined keen anti-sanction lobbyists. Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus, in search of financial aid even agreed to provide the Russian navy with access to ports on the island. Besides, Hungary and Slovakia expressed their intention to protest against the sanctions renewal. Europe’s sanctions on Russia began to expire in late March. So the EU needs the unanimous support from EU states to extend them. But several countries hope that if the EU lifts its sanctions on Russia, Moscow can withdraw its counter-sanctions on Europe. Although, most experts think it is too early to speculate that the sanctions will be cancelled in full.
