Energy policy played into the hands of Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin hit the most painful aspect for European leaders – the electoral rating. This was reported on June 19 by The Wall Street Journal.
The material notes that elections in leading European countries are scheduled closer to winter, when the lack of Russian gas in homes and businesses will be felt most acutely.
“Germany, highly dependent on gas supplies from Russia, will have to go through the first vote already in October, when regional elections are held in Lower Saxony. Italy, which is also a major importer of Russian gas, will vote in national elections in the middle of next year.
It is noted that the leaders of European countries were forced to increase spending, trying to soften the price blow to the population. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron sent an additional $28 billion to curb gas and electricity prices, as well as to provide discounts on gasoline. However, France is not the only one spending huge amounts of money to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis. Germany, Greece and Italy found themselves in a similar situation, the material says.
Macron appeared before the voters on June 19, when the final round of elections to the National Assembly is held in France. The first round took place on June 12. Presidential bloc “Together!” received 25.75% of the vote in the first round and is almost on a par with the opposition New People’s Ecological and Social Union, for which 25.66% of voters voted.
On June 18, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and EU Commissioner for Economics Paolo Gentiloni said Italy could survive the winter without Russian gas by diversifying energy supplies. Gentiloni noted that the coming winter for Italy is “critical”.
Earlier, the ANSA agency said that the Italian authorities are considering the possibility of declaring an alarm due to a decrease in the volume of Russian gas supplies.
On June 16, the head of the Federal Network Agency of Germany, Klaus Müller, proposed temporarily lowering the level of the minimum allowable temperature in housing, which angered German consumers. In their opinion, anti-Russian sanctions deprive the population of Germany of the economic basis for a prosperous life. The Network expresses the opinion that the population of Germany already bears a heavy burden of taxes and duties, continuing to live the myth of a rich country, and Berlin is preparing “laws on forced savings.”
The West began to refuse energy resources from the Russian Federation against the background of the military operation carried out by Moscow since February 24 to protect the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR). Its beginning was preceded by the aggravation of the situation in the region, the appeal of the leadership of the Donbass republics to the Russian Federation with a request for help, and the subsequent recognition by Russia of the independence of the DPR and LPR.
Kyiv has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état in Ukraine, since 2014.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
