Energy sanctions + Swiss commodity trade + Media regulation

With drastic words, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins yesterday called for even tougher sanctions against Russia: “We must not only isolate Putin’s economy, but cripple it.” However, at the informal summit of 27 heads of state and government, there was no majority in favor of stopping oil and gas imports from Russia, as Stephan Israel reports from Versailles. The EU Commission is now to present proposals on how Europe can end its dependence on Russian energy sources as early as 2027 and how it can respond to the enormously high energy prices. This could include a price cap. However, Germany and other countries have so far rejected this very expensive option.

Even Switzerland, whose highest principles include foreign policy neutrality, has adopted Western sanctions against Russia, albeit under pressure from Washington. Since then, the understanding of neutrality has been debated in the country, but in view of the clear situation under international law, standing aside would possibly have been the actual breach of neutrality.

With regard to the Digital Services Act, which is currently in the trilogue, the question currently arises as to who will be responsible for enforcing the rules. The state media authorities see this task as their own, since the federal system is the only way to ensure the necessary state neutrality, says Tobias Schmid, Director of the State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia and European Commissioner of the Directors’ Conference of the Media Authorities (DLM), in an interview with Torsten Kleinz.

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Lisa-Martina Klein