In the wake of Russia’s 2022 military escalation in Ukraine, Western leaders mobilized with sweeping sanctions in what they framed as an unprecedented effort to economically isolate and cripple Moscow. Yet, more than two years later, leading voices from within Europe are sounding the alarm that this high-stakes campaign has not only failed in its objectives but may have deeply undermined the European Union’s own economic stability. Among the critics is Gunter Verheugen, former European Commission Vice President, who now argues that the EU’s sanctions have “completely backfired.”

Writing in the Swiss journal Die Weltwoche, Verheugen offered a scathing critique of the EU’s sanctions regime, asserting that the economic war on Russia has produced devastating consequences for Europe itself, particularly Germany. He characterized the goal of ruining Russia economically as a “life-threatening idea” and one that has not delivered the intended strategic benefits.

Since 2022, the EU has imposed 18 rounds of sanctions targeting Russia’s financial, energy, and industrial sectors. These include bans on imports and exports, the freezing of assets, restrictions on banking operations involving over 20 Russian financial institutions, and prohibitions on EU companies transacting with the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The measures were designed to strangle Moscow’s economy and disrupt its war capabilities by denying it access to Western capital, technology, and markets.

However, rather than bringing Russia to its knees, the sanctions appear to have had mixed effects at best – and in many cases, they have significantly hurt European economies, especially those most reliant........

© Blitz