Goal into own goal? Reaction to sanctions against Russia in the Russian and German media

Abstract

The problem raised in the paper is very acute. The sanctions currently applied by Western countries towards Russia are unprecedented. Germany actively supports the sanctions policy, being influenced by the United States. The accession of the Crimea to Russia, the support of the liberation struggle of the rebels in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics is only an excuse for political and economic pressure on the Russian Federation executed by the North Atlantic Alliance in connection with its growing influence on the international arena. This pressure has become the subject of extensive discussions in the media. Who benefits from anti-Russian sanctions and who will suffer the main damage from their consequences? The Kremlin has traditionally been for the Bundestag a reliable trading partner for import and export tuernover, in which a significant share is represented by energy resources from Russia that are strategically important for the German economy. The apparent unwillingness of business communities to participate in the unfavorable policy of trade restrictions affects the domestic political situation in Germany. Ordinary German citizens do not like the reduction of tens of thousands of jobs and the closure of enterprises. These processes are reflected in the Russian and German press, which served as material for this article. The analysis is based on the anthropocentric and sociocultural approaches used when analyzing political discourse and the linguistic picture of the world.