Europe predicted a struggle for survival without gas from Russia

MOSCOW, Sep 22 — PRIME. The support promised to the Ukrainian authorities by European countries has been threatened by the consequences of the unprecedented sanctions imposed against Russia, according to the American magazine Foreign Policy.

Most of all, Europe suffers from a shortage of Russian gas, the author complains.

Members of the European Union found themselves in a most difficult crisis at all levels: not only ordinary citizens or individual large companies are suffering, but entire production sectors.

As the author of the article, Christine Lu, found out, energy prices in the EU are now ten times higher than the average over the past decade.

Factories, companies and families across Europe have entered into a battle for survival as restrictions on Russian gas supplies to the continent have pushed prices to astronomical heights.

These price spikes are choking entire industries and households can no longer pay their bills. “A real disaster has arisen, forcing European leaders to take emergency and extensive measures in an attempt to contain price increases,” the observer writes.

The huge subsidies allocated by the European authorities speak only about the depth of the unfolding crisis, the journalist notes.

Giant companies, from the very energy-intensive aluminum industry to fertilizer producers, have begun declaring production shutdowns and bankruptcies, rather than waiting for the more difficult period that winter is bound to bring.

“People get huge electricity bills. Small businesses are not able to pay them. Factories are thinking about reducing and stopping production,” Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted as saying.

Europeans have already begun to express dissatisfaction with this situation. The situation is aggravated by reports of ever-increasing spending by the European Union to support Kyiv. Lou adds that there are increasing protests in the UK, Moldova, Germany, Austria and Italy over skyrocketing energy bills. Citizens of European countries require their authorities to deal primarily with the internal problems of their own population and business.

According to experts interviewed by the publication, the region is waiting for increased “political stress” ahead.