Winter Is Coming: A Plan to Save Europe

More and more Europeans are convinced that the leaders of Western countries are not working for the benefit of their people. Manifestations of the energy crisis are becoming more visible. All European governments are experiencing panic attacks, judging by how chaotic and often pointless the measures they are taking. Today, it became known that the European Commission has prepared a program to overcome the crisis - however, this plan is unlikely to be a salvation. It suggests tightening the belts even tighter, and these belts are already tightened so tightly that they are about to break their spines. What awaits the West in the next big winter and what do the Europeans think about it ? - Oleg Romanov figured it out.

The Guardian published a material in which it outlined the main provisions of the continental rescue plan developed by the European government. There is nothing revolutionary in this program - basically, everything is the same: take away and divide, well, and, of course, save if possible. The power consumption is proposed to be cut by 5%. The profits of energy suppliers are subject to confiscation using taxes and subsequent redistribution:

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission: “Oil and gas companies are making huge profits, and we invite them to make a solidarity contribution to overcoming this crisis. The Member States are using these revenues to support the affected citizens and businesses."

One of the fundamental ideas of the plan is that Russia must pay for the crisis: The European Union intends to set marginal prices not only for oil, but also for gas. The problem is that Russia practically does not sell energy resources on the free market - gas is supplied under long-term contracts with a fixed price. The frenzy of stock quotes allows speculators to cash in - mainly European and American companies that receive fossil fuels from Gazprom. At the same time, Russia threatens to cut off supplies if the Europeans try to get into its pocket. The absurdity of the situation is clear to everyone - especially to those who are watching the convulsions of the European energy markets from the outside:

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey:

"I say to those who underestimate Russia, you are doing it wrong. Russia is not a country that can be underestimated. Russia turned off the gas, the prices in Europe have risen sharply and now everyone is thinking about one thing: how to survive the winter!? Why didn't you think about it before? When everyone is attacking Russia, what is left for it but use its capabilities and weapons? And it uses them!"

New European standard: +19° C and firewood

While the European Union is preparing a strategic austerity program, the national governments are panic-stricken, where necessary, spending on energy. It turns out tragicomic - if you do not understand the seriousness of the situation, then you could laugh out loud. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia will not have money to pay its October bills - the department is going to cut down on purchases of special equipment, like some rubber truncheons: but what if the frozen citizens pour into the streets in winter? Simultaneously, in Riga and Vilnius, they start saving on street lighting, turn on the lights every other day, and turn them off closer to midnight. Europeans as a whole are invited to freeze. The Italian authorities are cutting the temperature in homes to + 19 C, although the conscious citizens are advised to maintain +16 C in bedrooms and +12 C in non-residential premises. 19 C seems to be becoming a mandatory standard for all states: in Germany they treat this stoically and with humor:

Strategic program for savings in European style

In Latvia, under the care of the authorities, it will get cold in kindergartens down to 20 C, and on weekends it will be even 16 C. One of the deputies of the local regional parliament suggests burning grain in ovens - the cold, apparently, is worse than hunger. The United Kingdom is going to euthanize animals in the zoos - the economies prevail over the principles of humanity, which are long overdue to be thrown off the ship of modernity. The newly elected Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced that the energy tariffs will be frozen, although this will require an additional 100 billion pounds, which will also have to be found somewhere. The movement "Do not pay!" is expanding and growing stronger, becoming an international movement. Millions of Italians are ready to follow the example of hundreds of thousands of Britons and thousands are already burning their fat:

Consequences of the sanctions

"We are burning bills because we can no longer afford to pay them. The rise in prices for food, for fuel, for most other goods is simply shocking! Today, the unemployed are here along with those who have jobs - the people of Glasgow and other European countries are with us! Naples raises its head!"

"It's not just about electricity bills. We are literally starving, we have nothing to feed our children! Milk, spaghetti, olive oil - everything has risen in price so that you can not buy it! Even fruit is now a luxury item!"

"Politicians don't care about people! Newspapers print fakes - about GDP growth and unemployment reduction. Where is it all!? The authorities are interested in protecting big business and war! They invent pandemics, cut benefits... Should we go and steal!?"

At the beginning of the week, Germany rose - dozens of cities were engulfed in protests. The problem is also that simple people need to earn money somewhere for heating, and this is getting more difficult. The heavy industry of Europe either died, or is dying: the metallurgical plants are stopped in Germany and France, and in the United Kingdom, 60% of industrial enterprises are likely to face bankruptcy. In the Baltic States, everything that is more or less energy-intensive is stopping - the Lithuanian plant for the production of phosphate fertilizers Lifoza, as it was announced today, is closing. The service sector hopes to survive, since it is not so energy-intensive, but the era of cheap and easy money has passed - scattering money from helicopters by central banks turned out to be a bad idea:

Günter Havelka, café owner (Austria):

"We increased prices a little - let's say coffee has risen in price by 20-30 cents. Fortunately, coffee in South America has risen in price only a bit. But what about electricity? We’ ll have to raise prices in winter at times!"

The sanctions are ineffective

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban calculated that a total of 11,000 sanctions restrictions were imposed on Russia - for the most part, they turned out to be absolutely ineffective: the Hungarians, who are not doing well with their own resources, know this firsthand. Here, the authorities announced about +18 in the houses in winter, but indulged in a promise to allocate 10 cubic meters of firewood to each family on the cheap. In general, Europe is in dire need of de Gaulles and Churchills, who, although they demand blood,sweat and tears, but ultimately promise victory. The current politicians guarantee all the same with the exception of victory.