MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber stands against the European Union expanding or prolonging anti-Russia sanctions, the head of the chamber's foreign trade department told Sputnik Radio on Wednesday.
The European Union, alongside the United States and several other countries, has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia, accusing Moscow of fueling the crisis in Ukraine.
"I cannot speak on behalf of the state of Austria. But regarding the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, it has stood against the introduction of the Anti-Russia sanctions from the very beginning… And, of course, we are against the expansion or prolonging of the sanctions," Kurt Hartleb said, stressing the need for a political dialogue.
Earlier in the day, Bloomberg named Austria among seven European Union member states that are unlikely to back any new sanctions against Moscow that the bloc is to discuss at a two-day summit in Brussels, opening on Thursday. Other countries from the list include Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Hungary and Slovakia.
Hartleb added that the anti-Russia sanctions have already had a negative impact on trade relations between Russia and Austria.
"Our countries have strong economic ties, many investment projects. And we are witnessing a significant decline caused by uncertainty in terms of possible future development of the situation," the Austrian official said.
Hartleb also noted that Russia's ban on agricultural exports from the European Union has had "quite a significant" negative impact on Austria's food market and on Austrian exports.
In response to the western sanctions, last August Moscow introduced a ban on the import of a range of food items from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway.
