Austrian Elections & Politics 3.0 - Parliamentary Election: Oct. 15

[ag]

Tbf I support Ukraine, but oppose sanctions. The sanctions just hurt ordinary Russians and inflame nationalism even further - like most sanctions for that matter.

The sanctions that really hurt ordinary Russians have been imposed by the government of Russia on its own people "in retaliation": precisely because the Western-imposed sanctions hurt not the ordinary Russians, but those personally guilty for what has happened. The long-running joke among the Russians is that in retaliation for the next round of sanctions Russian government will order carpet bombing of Voronezh.

[ag]

Tbf I support Ukraine, but oppose sanctions. The sanctions just hurt ordinary Russians and inflame nationalism even further - like most sanctions for that matter.

The sanctions against Russia are not really popular among Austrian business leaders and farmers, who export a lot of goods and food to Russia.

And business people and farmers are core constituencies of the ÖVP, so Kurz's move to end the sanctions step-by-step is understandable in the long-term if he really wants to become party leader next year. He needs all the intra-party support he can get.

The sanctions on farmers/business people have been imposed by the Russian government, not by EU.