Brussels will not disconnect the Russian Federation from SWIFT and will not stop SP-2
Despite the high chances of the European Parliament adopting a non-binding resolution calling for Russia's disconnection from SWIFT, Brussels will not risk such measures.
This was stated by Ivan Timofeev, program director of the Russian International Affairs Council and the Valdai Club, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Russia’s disconnection from SWIFT will lead to very serious movements in financial markets. The initiators will not achieve any political goals, and the damage will be colossal - primarily for relations between Russia and the EU with its significant trade turnover. If they got away with such sanctions against Iran, then it is better not to repeat this trick with Russia - because of the damage and political consequences, which will be much more serious than in the case of Tehran,” Timofeev told Izvestia.
The resolution also calls for stopping the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which, according to German political scientist Alexander Rahr, is also unrealistic.
“As for SP-2, I am sure that nothing can stop this project. Because of Navalny, Europe is also unlikely to sever relations with Moscow. This will remain an irritating factor, because human rights remain one of the main points for Europe. Nevertheless, serious European politicians understand that changing historically established relations because of one person is absurd,” Rahr emphasized.
At the same time, Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev says that such resolutions, as a rule, reflect the political ambitions of their authors rather than contain real proposals on real problems.
“Therefore, Russia should determine its reaction not so much to this kind of resolution, but to the specific actions of the European Union in the Russian direction. And of course, we closely monitor these actions. But we are monitoring them, and not the resolutions of the European Parliament,” Kosachev concluded.
Brussels will not cut Russia off from SWIFT and will not stop Nord Stream 2.