Even since the downing of MH17 the European Union, however, has found it difficult to agree on further steps. So far, their measures have focused on individuals and entities. But is it really imposing a cost on the Russian government that would make it think again? The EU is considering more and there are signs from Brussels that more is on the way. But it has proven hard to get agreement among the member states. Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany has indicated that she wants tougher measures soon. She's an absolutely key player in Europe's response and frankly in most things that the EU does. So let's hear more about the view from Berlin.
Obviously, Russia and Germany are intertwined when it comes to economic trades. Germany imports Russian energy supplies. Germany gets more than 1/3 of its gas and oil from Russia, but it exports goods and heavy machinery. In fact, more than 6,000 German companies do business in Russia. Hundreds of thousands of German jobs depend on trade with Russia. And of couEven since the downing of MH17 the European Union, however, has found it difficult to agree on further steps. So far, their measures have focused on individuals and entities. But is it really imposing a cost on the Russian government that would make it think again? The EU is considering more and there are signs from Brussels that more is on the way. But it has proven hard to get agreement among the member states. Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany has indicated that she wants tougher measures soon. She's an absolutely key player in Europe's response and frankly in most things that the EU does. So let's hear more about the view from Berlin.
Obviously, Russia and Germany are intertwined when it comes to economic trades. Germany imports Russian energy supplies. Germany gets more than 1/3 of its gas and oil from Russia, but it exports goods and heavy machinery. In fact, more than 6,000 German companies do business in Russia. Hundreds of thousands of German jobs depend on trade with Russia. And of course Germany sells a lot of its cars to Russia. So companies like BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler are all particularly reliant on sales in Russia. So this is all really why business leaders here have been lobbying hard for the government to be cautious when it comes to sanctions. They've said that an economic cold war, as they put it, would hurt everyone.
rse Germany sells a lot of its cars to Russia. So companies like BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler are all particularly reliant on sales in Russia. So this is all really why business leaders here have been lobbying hard for the government to be cautious when it comes to sanctions. They've said that an economic cold war, as they put it, would hurt everyone.
