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Russia denies having anything to do with the poison attack on Alexey Navalny.
Many German and European politicians see it differently: calls for clear consequences are getting louder.
Because the proven poisoning of Navalny is not the first incident in which the traces lead to Moscow.
Florian Gathmann, DER SPIEGEL:
"I think you have to name two things: First, the Tiergarten murder last August in Berlin's Tiergarten, which was allegedly perpetrated by Russian officials on a Georgian. And of course the hacking attack on the Bundestag's computers in 2015. And if you put it all together "Then you just have to say that this time the dimension is just so big that the reaction from the Chancellor was just as sharp as it was."
Angela Merkel had stated that "now there are very serious questions that only the Russian government can and must answer".
Foreign Minister Maas said that those responsible in Russia must be identified and brought to justice.
How likely are sanctions now?
Florian Gathmann, DER SPIEGEL:
"Well, first of all, those would probably be economic sanctions. And indeed it is, trade policy falls within the framework of the EU, and that is why the EU would be responsible for that. If you know that this is about 27 member states that have come to an agreement, then you can imagine how difficult it will be, especially since the interests and perspectives on Russia are also very different and the first reaction of a spokesman for the EU Commission has already shown how careful one is there, who said, we are waiting now First off the reaction of Russia. Whatever one could do, freeze accounts of Russian politicians, people close to Putin in the EU or in Germany, that would also be a possibility. "
Some politicians are demanding the end of the German-Russian gas project Nord Stream 2. Putin's state-owned company Gazprom has been building the 1,200-kilometer pipeline in the Baltic Sea for two years, which is supposed to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany and neighboring countries
Florian Gathmann, DER SPIEGEL:
"Merkel and the leading coalition politicians take the position that one thing, i.e. the construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, and the other, i.e. the Navalny case, initially have nothing to do with each other. Above all, stopping this almost finished pipeline would affect the political relationship between Moscow and Berlin or Berlin and Moscow and, to be honest, I believe that because Russia is such an important partner, or at least interlocutor for Germany and the West in general, in many areas and areas, I think it is difficult to imagine that Germany is ready to take this step, so to speak, because it would simply run counter to the interests of German politics. "
This is probably one of the reasons why the Chancellor avoided adding anything after her clear statement the day before when the Swedish head of government visited her.