Oh golly gee, but could Europe be de-industrialized?--well why wouldn't it be if they don't have sufficient energy to run those industries, fool?

[Apollonian]

Experts Warn Energy Crisis Could Lead to ‘Permanent Deindustrialisation’ of Europe​

SEPTEMBER 16, 20221

Link: http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2022/09/experts-warn-energy-crisis-could-lead.html

Heavy industry experts have warned the European Commission that the EU faces the danger of “permanent deindustrialisation” should Brussels not act now to save the sector.
Senior players within the heavy industry sectors are warning that the European Union is now in danger of “permanent deindustrialisation” if action is not taken to alleviate pressure on businesses from the ongoing energy crisis.
The warning comes after a survey in the United Kingdom revealed that up to six in ten factories currently operating in the country could be forced to close over surging costs, with many having seen their energy bills rise by 100 per cent or more.
In a letter published by non-ferrous metals industry group Eurometaux, industry leaders warned that the EU’s heavy industry is also in grave danger.
“We are deeply concerned that the winter ahead could deliver a decisive blow to many of our operations, and we call on EU and Member State leaders to take emergency action to preserve their strategic electricity-intensive industries and prevent permanent job losses,” reads the document, which was sent to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and European Council President Charles Michel.
“Producers face electricity and gas costs over ten times higher than last year, far exceeding the sales price for their products,” it continued. “We know from experience that once a plant is closed it very often becomes a permanent situation, as re-opening implies significant uncertainty and cost.”
“We are deeply concerned that Europe faces a critical situation for the foreseeable future, with a perfect storm of sky-high electricity prices, no energy market liquidity due to insecure gas supplies, a continued nuclear and coal-phase out, and the remaining power sources being insufficient to cover market needs,” the document adds, ultimately warning of a “permanent deindustrialisation” of the EU.

The letter goes on to urge European Union politicians to take swift action to help alleviate the crisis, with the industry experts putting specific emphasis on the lifting of various green agenda taxes and tariffs for the purpose of making energy cheaper.
In particular, Eurometaux urged lawmakers to “address the excessive price of fossil fuel power generators” as well as work to reduce the price of excess carbon emissions that cost an arm and a leg thanks to the bloc’s green levies and rules.
While these demands do appear to have merit — with newly minted British prime minister Liz Truss announcing the relaxation of various green rules on Thursday in the hopes of curbing the energy crisis in Britain — the European Union’s hardcore commitment to climate ideology could prevent such steps being taken.
For example, in Germany, authorities have still refused to fully U-turn on the decommissioning of its three remaining nuclear power plants despite the ongoing threat to energy security, only recently expressing a willingness to keep two of the three stations in cold reserve, supposedly able to be turned on should they be required.
This alternative arrangement to just keeping the plants online has been described as being “technically not feasible” by those in the industry, however.
Other authorities have been more inclined to force their populations to do most of the grunt work to avert disaster, with French president Emmanuel Macron ordering the general public to engage in energy “sobriety” befitting a period marking what he termed the “end of abundance“, while von der Leyen has called on people to “flatten the curve” with “mandatory energy rationing”.
How much rationing these leaders will have to endure in their own lives remains to be seen, with Macron coming under fire earlier this year for riding around on a jet ski while on holiday, despite the vehicle being known for being extremely environmentally inefficient.

 

[Apollonian]

SANCTIONS BACKFIRING: European manufacturers closing up shop due to skyrocketing energy costs

09/15/2022 / By Ethan Huff / Comments

Link: https://www.newstarget.com/2022-09-...turers-closing-skyrocketing-energy-costs.html

There is a pretty good chance that Europe is done for as it pertains to manufacturing.
The soaring cost of energy has made it prohibitively expensive for primary-metals producers and other heavy industries to continue doing business across the continent, which is boycotting Russian energy over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Anti-Russia sanctions have all but crippled the European economy, forcing major companies like Slovalco, an aluminum producer in Slovakia, to close up shop.
For the first time, cheap Russian energy is no longer flowing into Europe like it has for many decades, including throughout the Cold War and during other periods of high tension between Moscow and the West.
Closure of the Nord Stream 1 (NS1) pipeline, the world’s largest natural gas pipeline, is an historic event that, instead of hurting Russia, is threatening to de-industrialize the entirety of Europe. (Related: Germany’s leaders are finally waking up to the fact that no more energy from Russia means no more economy for Europe.)
“Unlike the U.S., Europe leaned on manufacturing and heavy industry to keep its economy chugging in recent decades,” reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). “A bigger chunk of its economy comes from the likes of steelmakers, chemicals producers and car makers.”
“Europe’s energy crisis has left few businesses untouched, from steel and aluminum to cars, glass, ceramics, sugar and toilet-paper makers. Some industries, such as the energy-intensive metals sector, are shutting factories that analysts and executives say might never reopen, imperiling thousands of jobs.”

Is this the end of metal production in Europe?​

Up until now, the assumption has been that this is all temporary. Western media outlets say Putin can only last so much longer and that eventually everything will get back to “normal.”
Meanwhile, the “green” energy transition has proven to be even more disastrous for countries trying to wait out the pain. Some have had to restart their “dirty” energy industries in order to keep the lights on.
By the looks of things, Europe as we currently know it will not survive on the current trajectory. It would need to abandon the sanctions, fire back up the coal and gas plants, and once again become energy independent.
Even then it might not save Europe’s heavy industries which, once shut down, are very difficult to start back up again.
“… the continent might never again have access to the cheap Russian gas that helped it compete with the resource-rich U.S. and offset high labor costs, rigid employment rules and stringent environmental regulations,” write the WSJ’s Joe Wallace, David Uberti, Georgi Kantchev, and William Boston.
Before energy prices started to go crazy last year, Slovalco was paying about $45 per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity. In late August, that same MWh or electricity hit about $1,000 across Europe, a more than 2,200 percent increase.
Keeping an energy-intensive business alive in such a volatile climate is an economic impossibility, and Slovalco knows it.
“The volatility of the price of electricity these days – it’s crazy,” says Milan Veselý, who has worked his entire life at Slovalco. “This is probably the end of metal production in Europe. This is the way we are actually killing industry.”
The company did not even attempt to renew its power contract for 2023, which at recent peak prices would have cost $2.5 billion. With only an aluminum recycling component left to its business, Slovalco recently had to let go 67 percent of its workforce.
“We need immediate emergency aid now, otherwise we are threatened with de-industrialization in Germany,” added Franziska Erdle, general manager of WV Metalle, another major metal producer in Europe.
As the West falls apart due to rampant corruption and idiocy, we will keep you up to date with the latest at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:
WSJ.com
NaturalNews.com

 

[Apollonian]

Shocking document: How the US planned the war and energy crisis in Europe​

Markus Andersson
2 dagar ago

Link: https://nyadagbladet.se/utrikes/sho...nned-the-war-and-energy-crisis-in-europe/amp/

Foto: Nato/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

As the first outlet in Europe, Nya Dagbladet can publish what appears to be classified US plans to crush the European economy by means of a war in Ukraine and an induced energy crisis.

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RAND Corporation’s think tank, which has a huge work force of 1,850 employees and a budget of $350 million, has the official aim of “improving policies and decision-making through research and analysis”. It is primarily connected to the United States Department of Defence and is infamous for having been influential in the development of military and other strategies during the Cold War.
A document signed RAND, under the opening heading of “Weakening Germany, strengthening the U.S.”, suggests that there is an “urgent need” for an influx of resources from outside to maintain the overall American economy, but “especially the banking system”.

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Annonser:

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“Only European countries bound by EU and NATO commitments can provide us with these without significant military and political costs for us.”
According to RAND, the main obstacle to this ambition is the growing independence of Germany. Among other things, it points out that Brexit has given Germany greater independence and made it more difficult for the United States to influence the decisions of European governments.
A key objective that permeates this cynical strategy is, in particular, to destroy the cooperation between Germany and Russia, as well as France, which is seen as the greatest economic and political threat to the United States.
”If implemented, this scenario will eventually turn Europe into not only an economic, but also a political competitor to the United States.”, it declares.

The only way: “Draw both sides into war with Ukraine”​

In order to crush this political threat, a strategic plan, primarily focused on destroying the German economy, is presented.
“Stopping Russian deliveries could create a systematic crisis that would be devastating for the German economy and indirectly for the European Union as a whole”, it states, and believes that the key is to draw the European countries into war.
“The only possible way to ensure that Germany rejects Russian energy supplies is to draw both sides into the military conflict in Ukraine. Our continued actions in this country will inevitably lead to a military response from Russia. Russia is clearly not going to leave to the massive Ukrainian army’s pressure on the Donetsk People’s Republic without a military response. This would make it possible to portray Russia as the aggressive party and then implement the entire package of sanctions, which has already been drawn up”.

Green parties will force Germany to “fall into the trap”​

The green parties in Europe are described as being particularly easy to manipulate into running the errands of American imperialism.
“The prerequisite for Germany to fall into this trap is the dominant role of green parties and European ideologies. The German environmental movement is a highly dogmatic, if not fanatical, movement, which makes it quite easy to get them to ignore economic arguments”, it writes, citing the current foreign minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, and the climate minister, Robert Habeck, as examples of this type of politician.
“Personal characteristics and lack of professionalism make it possible to assume that it is impossible for them to recognise their own mistakes in time. I will therefore be sufficient to rapidly form a media image of Putin’s aggressive war – and make the Greens into ardent and tough supporters of sanctions – a ‘war party’. This will make it possible to impose the sanctions without any obstacles”.
Baerbock is, i.a., well known for declaring that she will continue the suspension of Russian gas even during the winter – regardless of what her constituents think about the matter and the consequences for the German population.
– We will stand with Ukraine, and this means that the sanctions will stay, also in winter time – even if it gets really tough for politicians, she said at a conference in Prague recently.
Green Party politicians Annalena Baerbock (left) and Robert Habeck (right) are described by the United Sates as being grateful for being manipulated into running errands for the United States – in particular the goal of destroying the German economy. (Photo: Vorderstraße/WEF/CC BY 2.0)

“Ideally – a complete halt of supplies”​

The authors express a hope that the damage between Germany and Russia will be so great that it will make it impossible for the countries to re-establish normal relations later on.
“A reduction in Russian energy supplies – ideally, a complete halt of such supplies– would lead to disastrous outcomes for German industry. The need to divert significant amounts of Russian gas for winter heating will further exacerbate the shortages. Lockdowns in industrial enterprises would cause shortages of components and spare parts for manufacturing, a breakdown of logistics chains and, eventually, a domino effect”.
Ultimately, a total collapse of the economy in Europe is seen as both probable and desirable.
“Not only will it deliver a devastating blow to the German economy, the entire economy of the entire EU economy will inevitably collapse.”
It further points out that the benefits of US-based companies having less competition on the world market, logistical advantages and the outflow of capital from Europe, would mean that they would be able to contribute to the economy of the United States by an estimated 7-9 trillion dollars. In addition, it also emphasises the important effect of many well-educated and young Europeans being be forced to immigrate to the USA.

RAND denies originating the report​

RAND Corporation issued a press release on Wednesday denying that the report originates from them. No comments are made regarding what parts of the report are false or what is accurate, apart from simply writing that the content is “bizarre” and that the document is “fake””.

 

[Apollonian]

Europe's Economy And Living Standards Are Plummeting​

BY TYLER DURDEN
TUESDAY, SEP 20, 2022 - 04:00 AM
Via Oriental Review,

Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/europes-economy-and-living-standards-are-plummeting

The ill-considered sanctions against Russia have exposed the most acute problems of Europe which is rapidly losing its economic power. A tremendous amount of businesses are on the verge of bankruptcy. A flood of migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine requires more and more budget spending. Funds are also being used to support the Kiev regime. As a result, Europe’s economies are deteriorating and living standards are plummeting.

Enterprises are on the verge of closing​

In Britain 60% of enterprises are on the verge of closing due to higher electricity prices. This is reported by the analytical group Make UK, representing the interests of British industry. 13% of British factories have reduced working hours and 7% are temporarily closing down. Electricity bills have risen by more than 100% compared to last year.
In Germany, according to the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, the number of firms and individuals went bankrupt in August alone rose 26% compared to the same period last year. The figure was significantly higher than German analysts had forecast. According to experts, during the autumn the number of bankruptcies will only increase. This is connected with the increase of the cost of production processes, in particular with the rise in prices for energy.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged that many Germans have faced with rising prices for fuel and food. Most countries in Europe were in a similar situation. But the authorities are sacrificing the quality of people’s lives in order to continue to exert pressure on Russia.

The crisis is just ahead​

At the same time, many experts believe the stopping of Nord Stream will cause Europe’s worst energy crisis in decades.

Manuela Schwesig, state premier of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Markus Söder, state premier of Bavaria, visit a site that will feed an existing pipeline network with liquefied natural gas in Lubmin, Germany, on August 30, 2022
This circumstance has already caused a sharp rise of prices of energy resources on the European market. As a result, energy bills of European households have increased. According to Goldman Sachs’ analysts, its cumulative cost will peak in early 2023, increasing by 2 trillion euros. It has also led to a record depreciation of the European currency over the past 20 years.
The increased cost of gas, heat and electricity has an adverse effect on the living standard of the people. But an even more dangerous problem is the falling liquidity of European products produced at the new cost of energy. European products are becoming uncompetitive on the world market: their price is much higher because of the cost of electricity and gas.
Attempts by EU leaders to introduce a price cap on energy from Russia have completely failed.

“Europe reaps what it sows”​

European countries are themselves to blame for the problems they face this coming winter because of reduced gas supplies from Russia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. According to him, “Europe reaps what it sows”, while Turkey “has no problems with gas supplies”.
The crisis in Europe is a result of political mistake. On one hand, sanctions against Russia, are favorable only to the U.S. And on the other, the imposition of the post-hydrocarbon economy on Europeans has shown its insolvency.
As a result, energy prices in Asia and Latin America today are much lower. And so are the wages of production workers. In other words, European products are totally uncompetitive. And we see a decrease in the liquidity of those products on the market. As a consequence, the European economy begins to plunge into recession. In particular, Christian Sewing, Director General of Deutsche Bank, said on September 7 that Germany is no longer able to avoid recession. Already at the moment it is buying significantly less raw materials from major suppliers such as Brazil, Argentina and the U.S.
The Economist Intelligence Unit, a British think tank, predicts that GDP growth in 2023 will be: 5.3% in China, 5.1% in India, 1.2% in the United States, 0.3% in France, 0.3% in Brazil. And it will be negative in a number of countries: minus 0.6% in the UK, minus 1% in Germany, and minus 1.3% in Italy.

Poverty is coming​

The next logical consequence will be mass production closures and rising unemployment. European technology companies are already reducing the number of high-paying engineering positions. In September, German wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa announced its intention to reduce the number of employees to 1,500 people.

In turn, rising unemployment will cause a drop in living standards and an additional burden on government budgets, as the fight against poverty requires additional social spending.
European economies survive through stimulus. But this exacerbates inflation. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, “You can’t help everyone, so we in the West will be a bit poorer because of the high inflation, the high energy costs”.

Migrants are ruinous to the budget​

Meanwhile, the energy crisis and production problems have been exacerbated by migration policies that require additional budgetary injections into the social sphere.
Migrant influx into European countries over the past two decades has been less than 1 million people a year. But already last year, 1.3 million people entered the countries, and this year, there were already 1.8 million people. We must take into account the fact that some immigrants enter Europe illegally and are not registered. They are primarily residents of Somalia, Nigeria, Gambia, Iran, Pakistan, Mali, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Syria.
Moreover, more than 10 million people left Ukraine since the end of February. Of these, at least 6 million people remain in European countries, while 3.7 million have already received refugee status. The average cost per such migrant is 7,000 euros per year. Even without Ukrainians, Germany alone spends 25 to 55 billion euros annually on refugee aid.
The European economy could afford these enormous expenditures before the energy crisis. But now the situation is such that expenditures are only increasing while revenues are falling.
Following the catastrophic electricity and heating bills, Europe’s population is facing mass unemployment, followed by a decline in social support from the state. These processes inevitably lead to an overall decline in living standards.

 

[Apollonian]

Sanctions against Russkies, Russia cutting off energy shipments to Europe, have economic consequences, suckers

 

[Apollonian]

Banking Crisis Will Start in Europe – Martin Armstrong​

By Greg Hunter On September 24, 2022

Link: https://usawatchdog.com/banking-crisis-will-start-in-europe-martin-armstrong/

[see vid at site link, above]

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (Saturday Night Post)

Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong says nothing is going to get better by the end of 2022, and he is still forecasting “chaos” coming in 2023. Armstrong says the plunge in the stock market last week is all because of “extreme uncertainty.” Armstrong predicted a stock market crash two months ago and contends, “It’s not over.”
Europe is in big financial trouble with Russian natural gas turned off as a retaliation from the sanctions. Armstrong explains, “In Europe, I believe they are actually deliberately doing this, and this is Klaus Schwab’s ‘Great Reset.’ They know they have a serious problem. They lowered rates to below 0% in 2014. They just started raising interest rates. Meanwhile, you ordered all the pension funds throughout Europe to have more than 70% in government bonds. Then they took it negative. All the pension funds are insolvent. Europe is fiscal mismanagement on a grand scale. There is no way it can sustain itself, and we are looking at Europe breaking apart.”
So, could Europe suck the rest of the world down the tubes? Armstrong says, “Oh, absolutely. Europe is the problem. . . . The crisis in banking will start in Europe. . . . The debt is collapsing. They have no way to sustain themselves. The debt market over there is undermining the stability of all the banks. You have to understand that reserves are tied to government debt, and this is the perfect storm. Yes, the (U.S.) stock market will go down short term. We are not facing a 1929 event or a 90% fall here. . . . Europeans, probably by January of 2023, as this crisis in Ukraine escalates, anybody with half a brain is going to take whatever money they have and get it over here.”
So, where is smart money going to go? Armstrong says, “Stocks are like gold, it is on the same side of the table and is opposite government debt. People are not going to be buying government debt. They are going to be looking at anything in the private sector. . . . People are buying whatever they can to get off the grid.”
Armstrong says governments are borrowing and spend huge amounts of money. The Fed will keep raising interest rates to fight inflation, but Armstrong says, “Raising interest rates will only make things worse. We have supply shortages, and raising rates will not fill the gaps.”
Armstrong has never been more positive on buying gold. Why? Armstrong explains, “We are looking at a sovereign debt default. This is what’s going on. This is why Biden will spend whatever he wants because he knows he doesn’t have to pay it back. Eventually, this is what’s going to happen. This is Schwab’s agenda.”
Armstrong has predicted “2023 will be the year from Hell.” Armstrong says, “Civil unrest will only get worse” this year, and he is predicting we will have full blown war next year. Armstrong contends Democrats are desperate and will do things like granting illegal aliens citizenship so they can vote in the mid-term elections.
In closing, Armstrong says, “Something is going to spark a collapse in government again. It’s going to be something, I think, in Europe where they do something drastic because they have no other choice. . . . They need war as the excuse for the defaults of all the government debt.”
There is much more in the nearly 59-minute interview.
Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with Martin Armstrong, cycle expert and author of the upcoming new book

“The Plot to Seize Russia, Manufacturing World War III” for 9.24.22.

 

[Apollonian]

Tens of Thousands Protest Against NATO, EU in Prague​

Link: https://news.antiwar.com/2022/09/28/tens-of-thousands-protest-against-nato-eu-in-prague/

Thousands demonstrated in Germany calling for the opening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline

by Dave DeCamp Posted onSeptember 28, 2022

Tens of thousands of people marched in the Czech Republic’s capital of Prague on Wednesday to protest against the government’s handling of the energy crisis, the EU, and NATO.
It marked the second time within a month that massive demonstrations took place in the city as Western sanctions against Russia are backfiring on Europe and energy prices are soaring.
The demonstrations in Prague have brought together parties from across the political spectrum. According to Reuters, the organizing group known as “Czech Republic First!” is against Prague’s EU and NATO memberships and wants the country to be militarily neutral.
“This government is absolutely anti-Czech. It only serves Brussels, American power and NATO. It has no regard for Czech citizens’ interests,” one demonstrator told Reuters.
European leaders across the continent are worried about increasing civil unrest as winter is approaching. In Germany, thousands have gathered in recent days in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to demand that Berlin open the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to ease energy prices.
Both Nord Stream pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany, were the target of explosions this week that are being investigated as sabotage. The Nord Stream 2 has never been fully operational as Berlin paused the project after Russia invaded Ukraine.

 

[Apollonian]

US Engineered Energy Crisis in Europe. Weaponizing the Dollar, Global Economic Depression​

By Uriel Araujo
Global Research, October 02, 2022

Link: https://www.globalresearch.ca/western-economic-warfare-backfired-new-depression-likely-come/5795163

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Now that the Nord Stream pipeline might have been sabotaged by Washington, as promised by US President Joe Biden on January 7, and is possibly gone forever (according to German authorities), it is time to consider the possible impacts.
The energy crisis in the EU has always been pushed by American interests. Moreover, the US has been engaging in economic warfare and even weaponizing the dollar for too long, but it has been clear for months now that its current economic and financial war against Russia has backfired – and once again, mostly upon Europe. Such economic wars in fact may dangerously spiral out of control, and are considered to be one of the causes of the 1929 crisis in the post-Versailles world.
Philip Pilkington, an Irish economist who works in investment finance, famous for his contributions on the empirical estimate of general equilibrium and other fields, has made quite interesting observations about the possible deindustrialization of Europe as a consequence of economic warfare. He remarks on how in the post-pandemic world debts in the West have been accumulating and, on top of that, the current conflict in Ukraine has brought extra energy costs.
After the conflict ends – or becomes a “frozen conflict” – or after good diplomacy is reestablished, Russia could start to once again supply gas to Europe as usual – this is how many analysts reasoned. However, now that the pipelines are gone, the price of energy in the continent is to remain tremendously high for years to come. With permanent high energy prices making manufacturing not economically viable anymore (thus decreasing European purchasing power), one should expect to see the bloc shutting out exports to revive an uncompetitive industry while increasing energy investments. These are Pilkington’s main points and it might be worth delving into them.
Pilkington argues that high energy costs will make the European industry largely uncompetitive because manufacturers will have no choice but to also raise the price of goods, which in turn, will not be able to compete with cheaper foreign goods. The economist goes on to argue that, in this scenario, with many manufacturers out of business, the result will be the loss of key jobs, with less employed people spending money and a new economic depression.
Thus, Pilkington reasons, the United States will not be able to “reshore” European manufacturing for too long because there simply won’t be anyone in the continent to buy the products the US ships to European shores. This crisis will thus affect Americans too, because as exports to Europe fall, US workers also lose their jobs. What could EU states do in such a scenario? The Irish economist writes quite convincingly that a tariff solution would be the most obvious one: by raising tariffs, these countries will be able to “render international products as expensive as the domestic products suffering from energy cost inflation.”
The result of that can only be more economic chaos for the West, while Europe “shuts itself off” and becomes a kind of a “black hole”, in a repetition of the 1920 events which resulted in the Great Depression, writes Philip Pilkington.
However, the global situation today has changed much, with the BRICS+ alliance, apparently aimed at “decoupling from the Western economy.” For a while, the rise in commodity prices has been perceived as a result of Western sanction policies, and this has forced the global south to look for parallel mechanisms and alternatives. Therefore, these emerging powers have the potential to build a “separate economic bloc”, which means the West would suffer the most from the economic chaos, as BRICS+ “has a relatively clean bill of economic health”.
All of this is a quite likely scenario and one should also consider the political implications. The economic crisis will in all likelihood bring back protectionism, and it might come accompanied by a 1930-like political climate. This in turn can only strengthen the populist camp in Europe. Populist and so-called “far-right” tendencies have been growing in the continent for years and the time seems to be just right for speeding up this phenomenon.
One remembers defeated French Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen promised to pull France out of NATO during this years’ elections. Meanwhile, in August, Hungary had once again the lowest energy prices in the EU. Over 8,700 sanctions have been imposed on Moscow, and yet they have hurt Europe more than Russia as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been a strong critic of such sanctions. In fact, whether one likes the man or not, he has oftentimes been the voice of reason in the bloc. Now, the German eurosceptic Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) political party is heavily focusing on attacking European elites and opposing the German government’s sanctions against Russia. This trend is everywhere across the EU.
It is about time Europe assert its sovereignty, however such a political stance is largely marginalized in the continent. Thus, although a European populist wave should increase skepticism about NATO and the EU itself, it will also increase political instability and turmoil. To sum it up, in the worst post-Nord Stream scenario, one can then expect a deindustrialized and isolated Europe going through a serious political and economic crisis.

 

[Apollonian]

Le Pen issues grim winter prediction​

Link: https://www.azerbaycan24.com/en/le-pen-issues-grim-winter-prediction/

The EU’s anti-Russia policies are hurting the French, the politician claims © Getty Images / NurPhoto / Contributor
France should brace for a tough winter as a result of the EU’s anti-Russia sanctions, the leader of the right-wing National Rally parliamentary group said on Tuesday, adding that next winter will be even worse.
Marine Le Pen told BFMTV that the sanctions are not working, and are in fact harming the French people. She argued that the restrictions placed on Russia have proven counterproductive, helping Moscow to increase its oil revenues.
Le Pen also said that the responsibility for the plight of Europeans lies with those who decided to impose anti-Russia measures.
The opposition politician earlier harshly criticized France’s support for the sanctions, branding them a major “geopolitical mistake.” She also called out “idiots” supporting the green agenda, naming them as the real culprits for the EU’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels.
Read more: Heads of General Staff of Azerbaijan, Russia meet in Baku
Last month, the head of the French energy regulator CRE warned that private households could face power outages this winter in the event of severe frosts. The country may not produce enough nuclear energy in the coming months, as half of its plants are offline, the regulator said.