BERLIN (AFP) – Germany has rejected a complete ban on Russian gas and oil imports over Russia invading Ukraine, but voices are growing louder for Berlin to ditch its economic imperative to take a moral stand.
After the United States (US) and Britain imposed a ban on Russian oil, pressure has mounted on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government and other G7 members to follow suit.
A group of climate activists, academics, authors and scientists published an open letter to the German government on Wednesday, demanding a complete ban on Russian energy, reasoning that “we are all financing this war”.
So far, Scholz’s government has remained unmoved, reasoning that sanctions should not risk destabilising the countries imposing them.
Since Germany imports more than half its gas and coal and about a third of its oil from Russia, experts said a transition period would be needed to avoid the lights going out.
