'Not Worth the Risk': How New Anti-Russia Sanctions Could Affect Merkel's Career

© REUTERS / Damir SagoljGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the opening session of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, July 15, 2016.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the opening session of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, July 15, 2016. - Sputnik International
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Many politicians from Merkel's CDU party are in favor of the introduction of new anti-Russian sanctions. However, such a move could do Angela Merkel and her colleagues more harm than good, German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel wrote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the opening session of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, July 15, 2016. - Sputnik International
'Russia Too Big and Savvy for That': Merkel Sees No End to Sanctions on Moscow
Relations with Moscow are the cornerstone of many disputes between members of the ruling coalition that consists of Merkel's Christian-Democratic Union (CDU / CSU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the newspaper noted.

While CDU politicians are demanding a tougher approach toward Russia, members of the SPD, such as Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Vice Chancellor of Germany Sigmar Gabriel oppose the introduction of new sanctions and called for their gradual withdrawal.

"Gabriel and Steinmeier have been supporting the gradual lifting of the sanctions […]. With regard to this issue, the two ministers have a large part of their party's members by their side," the article said.

During the upcoming federal election campaign, the Social Democrats could use the issue of Moscow-Berlin relations as an important trump card against Merkel and cause her a lot of trouble, the newspaper noted.

If the SPD will position itself as a party which seeks rapprochement with Moscow, it is likely to receive additional support, both from the Left Party voters and supporters of "Alternative for Germany," for whom the establishment of relations with Russia is very important.

According to the newspaper, the introduction of new sanctions against Russia would not be worth the risk for the German Chancellor. Even if Merkel's party managed to promote the idea of new sanctions within the German political elite, its implementation would require a further unanimous decision of the EU Member States, which may be very difficult to achieve at the moment, the newspaper wrote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko before an expanded meeting to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine, held by the Russian, German, French and Ukrainian leaders - Sputnik International
Poroshenko, Merkel Discuss Anti-Russia Sanctions Extension
Earlier in October, different European politicians, including Germany's Coordinator for Intersocietal Cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and the Eastern Partnership Countries Gernot Erler, brought the idea of introducing restrictions against Russia over its role in the Syrian conflict, which had aggravated in recent weeks.

For his turn, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there were no reasons to introduce sanctions against Moscow over Syria, because Russia was the only country, whose armed forces were in the Middle Eastern nation on a legitimate basis, from the point of view of the international law.

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