Valentine’s Day: to Russia with love — from the EU

Valentine’s Day: to Russia with love — from the EU
Copyright REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
By Chris Harris
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

Relations between Moscow and Brussels are the lowest they've ever been, but do figures released ahead of Valentine’s Day give reason for hope?

ADVERTISEMENT

Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Moscow's alleged meddling in European elections means relations with Brussels are at an all-time low.

But, while there are tit-for-tat economic sanctions still in place between the two, the romantic flame has seemingly not entirely gone out.

For the EU sends more freshly-cut roses to Russia than anywhere else in the world, according to figures released ahead of Valentine’s Day.

Eurostat says of non-EU countries, Russia was the primary destination of the bloc’s roses between January and October last year.

There were €62 million worth of the flowers sent Russia’s way, which represents 45% of the EU’s exports to countries outside the community.

The next biggest non-EU market was Switzerland (€28 million or 31% of exports) followed by Norway (€4 million) and Belarus (€3 million).

Share this articleComments