Since the "North Stream" pipeline was damaged by unknown reasons, Europe's idea of relying on Russian natural gas for winter has been shattered. Faced with the increasingly approaching energy crisis , some European countries that rely heavily on Russian natural gas have begun "self-rescue" actions. According to Global Network , Gazpromium Corporation announced that after consultation with Italian customers, gas supply to Italy will be resumed through Austrian .
Previously, Russia suspended gas supply to Italy due to Austria's regulatory system issues, but after nearly a week of negotiations, the two sides found a suitable solution. Although Gazprom has not announced the specific negotiation content, Italy's approach to seeking natural gas from Russia may cause dissatisfaction with EU .
Before the Italian right-wing alliance came to power, the EU had expressed concerns about Italy's attitude towards Russia. Because the coalition party and the Power Party in the right-wing alliance are relatively moderate towards Russia, it has aroused suspicion from some people in the West, believing that some of Italy's future ruling parties have too close relations with Putin . In response, European Commission President von der Leyen claimed that as long as they cooperate with them, they will work together, but if things develop in a difficult direction, they also "have the means" to deal with it.
Although Italy does not publicly support Russia, Russia's resumption of natural gas supply to Italy will inevitably be secretly muttered by some EU countries. In fact, it is not a mistake for Italy to be "unsociated". Before the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, 95% of the natural gas needed by Italy relies on imports, and about 45% of which comes from Russia. Although Italy is now trying to find a way to import natural gas from , North Africa, and Nordics, Russian natural gas is still crucial to Italy.
Although European countries rely more or less on Russian natural gas, after the explosion of the "North Stream" pipeline, the EU simply broke the can and gave up. On the day Russia decided to resume gas supply to Italy, von der Leyen called on the European Parliament to set restrictions on imported natural gas prices. Before this, the EU had been unwilling to make this decision, worried that the European energy problem would further intensify, but now the EU's attitude has changed. While formulating a new round of sanctions against Russia, it also proposed a price limit, which was obviously to force Russia to compromise.
However, Russia has long stated that even if it stops exporting energy to Europe, it will not sell it at a loss. Now the EU and Russia are competing for patience. During this period, the EU can only put part of it on the United States, hoping that the United States can bring more natural gas to the EU and increase the bargaining chips to confront Russia.
Although there is no need to worry about cutting off supply of in the United States, it is very "unfriendly" in terms of price. German Vice Premier and Minister of Economy Habek accused the United States of having paid too much, which in some ways could even be said to be "astronomical". Even Germany, the largest economy in Europe, cannot stand the high energy costs, let alone those small countries.
According to Russian media reports, Bulgaria will temporarily stop implementing EU sanctions on Russian energy to ensure the work of government agencies. Bulgarian news agency said it will sign a new framework agreement with Russia after October 10 to introduce Russian energy to protect public order and national security. Bulgarian officials also stressed that Bulgarian cars will not be able to start without sanctions. It seems that before the energy crisis, Bulgaria did not blindly follow the EU, but followed suit, negotiated with Russia and signed an agreement to preserve the energy supply.
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States continued to force European countries to impose sanctions on Russia. The then Bulgarian Prime Minister Petkov resolutely chose the pro-US route, blindly following the United States despite the national economy and people's livelihood. The poorest country in Europe not only rejected the "Rubber Settlement Order", which caused interruption of natural gas supply, but also planned to provide weapons to Ukraine, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the people.Some time ago, the pro-US Petkov government lost in a vote of distrust, and the Bulgarian Civic Party's party alliance was granted the right to form a cabinet. The newly-entered ruling party has a moderate attitude towards Russia, but for the EU, this undoubtedly tear apart their "democratic unity."
Energy battle is a battle between the United States and Russia outside the battlefield of Russia and Ukraine. More and more countries are unwilling to follow the United States, which proves that Europe is gradually awakening. They are clearly aware that endless confrontation will only harm themselves in the end.
