The cowardly attack in Saint Petersburg shows, that a new development in the Russia-EU relations must begin. First of all, our sympathies go to the relatives of the murdered and injured. The causes and the methods of terror can only be fought together. It was wrong to pressure Russia repeatedly and to try to isolate the country. The appropriation of Crimea was against international law, but the sanctions by the EU were the wrong step. The war of the United States of America against Iraq violated international law as well, but nobody in the EU proposed sanctions against the USA. The sanctions against Russia must be lifted, and it has to be finally understood that peace and security in Europe can’t be achieved without - or even against - Russia. The EU has got different interests towards Russia – a nuclear global power – than the USA. This has to be made clear quickly.

Gregor Gysi

President of the Party of the European Left (EL)