Reuters: Austrian business grits teeth, would back Russia sanctions
Austrian businesses would back tougher economic sanctions against Russia should Europe go down that path, even though such measures will likely be counterproductive, the head of the country's Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday.
Christoph Leitl, one of Austria's most vocal opponents of levelling tough sanctions against Moscow over its role in Ukraine's crisis, told Reuters he could not estimate the economic impact of stepped-up economic pressure on Russia.
"As (sanctions) are now, we expect exports to fall around 20 percent this year versus last year and in tourism the collapse in Russian guests is already very strikingly tangible," he said in a telephone interview.