The Russo-Ukrainian war entered its second month and its end is not yet close. In general, the end of this and other invasions can be brought closer by two ways. The first way is the military one – by the sacrifice and courage of the warriors in the neighboring country and the whole nation and this is what they actually do. The second way is the economic one and includes the imposition of economic sanctions against the aggressor. This is used by that part of the world that does not agree with the war as a method of solving real or invented problems. The experts invited to a public debate staged by IPN discussed how the sanctions work, what effects they produce and what Moldova’s position in this regard is.
Dionis Cenușa, a political scientist, researcher at the Institute of Political Science at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, said the sanctions are primarily economic instruments, but they can contain political elements. These are used by international organizations or by states individually to discourage particular actions against international law committed by other states.
“In particular cases, we can speak about the sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council, mostly against actions related to terrorism. Such types of sanctions should be unanimously approved by the members of the Security Council, which includes Russia. There are also sanctions imposed by such states as the U.S., which have extraterritorial effects. This type of sanctions can refer to companies and to individuals coming from a particular country,” said the scientist.
According to him, there are a series of sanction types that include travel bans or confiscation of assets of individuals or companies. Other sanctions cover whole sectors of the economy. “The diversity of sanctions or areas in which sanctions are imposed is rather broad and widens every time we speak about a new wave of sanctions imposed by the U.S., the European Union, including the UN. The efficiency of these sanctions depends a lot on the number of countries that support the sanctions and on the capacity of the sanctioned countries to survive and to adjust to the sanctions imposed on them in reaction to their behavior against international norms,” noted Dionis Cenușa.
Journalist Ion Terguță said the sanctions are evidently imposed because of the war and the decisions concerning their imposition are strictly political in nature. “Thr United States and the European Union, and the whole international community, in order to avoid a much wider conflict, try to destroy the economic potential and primarily the military potential of the Russian Federation so that this is unable to continue this war. But these sanctions can directly affect the countries that impose sanctions. The EU member states are the most exposed here, said the journalist,” noting Africa is also seriously affected as Russia and Ukraine exported a lot of grain to this continent.
According to Ion Terguță, it was somehow expected that Russia in the 21st century will behave as it behaves event if it is also affected a lot. “Russia will suffer the consequences of these sanctions probably during several decades. I realize that the United States and the European Union are not disposed to lift these sanctions immediately, even if Russia withdraws for good from Ukraine or accepts to pay reparations. Russia remains one of the main aggressors worldwide and will therefore suffer the consequences during a longer period of time,” said the journalist.
Dumitru Vicol, associated economic pundit of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (the UK), believes that after the invasion of Crimea, the Russians somehow got ready for an eventual conflict. They built an economic fortress in which they would be very resilient and less vulnerable, with the foreign exchange reserves being the main element of this fortress.
“When the Russians decided to invade Ukraine, they were somehow sure that they can survive any sanction as they had a very great safety cushion. When Brussels and Washington decided to freeze those foreign exchange reserves abroad, almost half of them, they hit the Russians the worst. The second half was in the form of gold. Several days ago, they started to penalize any transaction with the Central Bank. Practically the entire fortress built around the Central Bank collapsed,” explained the expert.
According to him, another element of the sanctions is the targeting by the West of the mineral or energy resources exporting sectors. But the West also imposes sanctions on the own economies this way. Respectively, those economies, primarily in the EU, oscillate in the period. Therefore, the impact on the EU should also be calculated when sanctions are being imposed on Russia.
The public debate entitled “Western sanctions against Russia: reasons, mechanisms of action, effects, position of the Republic of Moldova” was the 231st installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
