Moscow preempted the meeting of European defense and foreign ministers, in Prague on August 30 and 31, by announcing another stoppage of gas pumping into the Nord Stream 1 pipelines between August 31 and September 2, which raised gas prices in the European Union by 13% at the beginning of the year. This week to a record peak, which means more price hikes for electricity and fuel, and all associated transportation and manufacturing, virtually everything.
Prices, which doubled in one month, led to austerity decisions in Italy and Germany; Factories have been affected and are looking for government support, while the outlook for the crisis between Russia and the West is getting bleaker.
The European scene is taking a new turn. The sanctions imposed by the United States and its European allies on Russia, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, are met by escalating measures from the Russian side, while indicating that we are facing a siege versus a siege.
The battle of “biting fingers” began to affect European companies; Business activity in the Eurozone contracted for the second consecutive month in August, while the cost-of-living crisis forced consumers to cut spending while supply constraints hit manufacturers.
The old continent today suffers from various fears represented in a severe winter, the escalation of the challenge of access to adequate gas supplies, bearing the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and European support for Kiev with weapons and equipment, which amounted to 2.5 billion euros in 6 months. Now, a team is being considered to support the training of the Ukrainian armed forces in Europe, along the lines of Britain and America.
The escalating crisis is entering, with the passage of time, thorny corridors that exacerbate it. Can Europeans overcome their different views under the pressure of the “invasive blockade”?
On the other hand, the Ukrainians are escalating attacks on the Crimea, which indicates new military dimensions that increase the level of international concern.
The sanctions imposed by the West, led by America, on Russia, and the corresponding measures by Moscow, which particularly affect the countries of Europe, increase the cost to both parties. And if Russia is increasing its exports of oil and gas in the east, to China and India, Europe is not yet able to secure new supply markets, with which it supports its position in the battle of “biting fingers”, and the latest disappointment was the admission of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a press conference held In Montreal, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, yesterday, Monday, that exporting Canadian gas to Germany will not be easy, given the long distance between the western fields of the country and the ports of the Atlantic coast.
Six months since the start of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, and before that months and years of conflict between sanctions and diplomatic crises between Russia on one side and the West led by America on the other, and the world is still waiting for an international awakening, resorting to reason, and perpetuating the culture of war in favor of the will of dialogue. Truth this soon? A question waiting to be answered in the midst of the accelerating international changes.
