Baltic: Europe is playing a losing game

Sanctions are a zero-sum game: if the states interrupt cooperation, both parties are hurt, writes Eesti Päevaleht in its editorial.

In case of possible sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, the differences between the EU and Russia are so big that EU is prepared to face losses from trade.

The recent study made by the European Commission attempts to estimate the potential loss to EU member states.

Not surprisingly, the survey paints a vague picture because it is not known what Russia’s response would be to different levels of sanctions.

For instance, while Europe says that it is considering plans to switch from importing Russia’s natural gas to US shale gas, the study forgets that Europe does not have the infrastructure to receive deliveries of large amounts of shale gas.