Recently, EU is discussing a new round of sanctions plan against Russia. According to internal EU documents, the new round of sanctions against Russia, in addition to restricting signing new contracts with Russian natural gas , oil and other related companies as always, it will also ban imports from Russia including caviar and wine, as well as materials including steel, wood and paper.
It can be seen that the EU still does not intend to give up and will continue to expand the scope of sanctions against Russia. Although the EU looks harmless and can continue to increase the intensity of sanctions against Russia, some small European countries can no longer hold on in this crisis and have to ask the EU for help.
According to the British " Financial Times ", Slovak Prime Minister Heg said in an interview recently that due to the rising energy costs, the current Slovak is experiencing a serious economic crisis in China. Hager said that if the EU cannot give Slovakia 5 billion euros in aid, Slovakia's economy will face collapse.
Higer emphasized that Slovakia currently has only two ways to go, the nationalized power supply system and seek help from the EU, and the nationalized power supply system means a complete change in Slovakia's domestic policy system. The Hager government will not take this downside unless it is absolutely necessary.
Obviously, in the energy crisis, except for a few large economic powers like Germany that can barely maintain, it is difficult for other countries to not be affected, especially small countries like Slovakia, who have weak risk resistance and cannot successfully overcome this energy crisis that has swept the entire Europe.
Especially as winter approaches, natural gas and electricity demand in European countries will also peak. I believe that more European countries will not be able to hold on in the future, so they can only pin their hopes on the EU.
In fact, since the EU imposed sanctions on Russian energy, the voices of opposing sanctions within the EU have not disappeared. Like Hungarian Prime Minister Orban has been warning the EU to act cautiously and not to easily sanction Russia. Because EU countries have a very high demand for energy, according to statistics, 45% of the EU's natural gas and 46% of coal come from Russia.
Before a replacement importer was found, the EU took the lead in imposing export restrictions on Russian energy, which was obviously very unwise. After the EU imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on Russia, Russia also opposed the EU's first army and directly closed the Nord Stream-1 gas pipeline.
What's worse is that recently, two gas pipelines in Russia and Europe have leaked, which cannot be repaired in a short period of time, which once again increased the burden on Europe. Europe has ushered in the most serious energy and economic crisis ever. On the one hand, there is energy that even money cannot buy, and on the other hand, there is the high inflation .
Under the dual pressure, some European countries have also begun to question the EU's policies, and voices against sanctions on Russian energy have also been ups and downs. Especially there are European countries like Hungary that have opposed sanctions against Russian energy since the beginning and are therefore exempted from Russia and successfully import natural gas from Russia at normal prices.
In comparison, it makes countries that buy natural gas at a price of 30% higher than the market price seem extremely embarrassing. This is the current situation of most European countries. In the recent consultation meeting on sanctions against Russia, it is already difficult for EU member states to reach a consensus on the sanctions plan, and some countries often stand up to oppose it because sanctions involve their own interests.
For this reason, the EU has to coordinate in all aspects and make choices without harming the interests of EU member states. However, when the EU makes concessions, it actually indicates that the EU's sanctions are being relaxed. Although giving up halfway will make people laugh, the EU has to compromise in order to maintain internal unity.
Now Slovakia's request for help has also sounded the alarm for the EU. If the EU cannot find a proper solution for this situation, then more countries will come to us in the future. The EU will either exchange financial subsidies for their support, or it will have to turn against Russia due to reality. The key to the problem of
is that even if the EU wants to stop, the United States may not agree and will definitely interfere. Obviously, the EU cannot find a solution that is the best of both worlds, and the struggle between the EU and Russia is destined to cause the EU to suffer greater losses.
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