“Huanqiu Shibao”: with the start of the heating season, the EU will face a real test
Chinese newspaper columnist “Huanqiu Shibao” Zheng Tao predicted a gloomy outlook for the European Union (EU) after October. He believes that Europe will face a real test when the heating season begins.
The journalist explained that at this time, both industry and the population will face big problems in the field of gas and electricity consumption, since “dancing to the tune of America” and anti-Russian sanctions do not correspond to the national interests of European countries.
As Tao said, the energy crisis has caused in Europe a decrease in the competitiveness of industry, a reduction in production, inflation and a significant slowdown in the economy. As a result, the EU was forced to commit suicide by buying gas from the US at four times the domestic price.
Against this background, the observer pointed out, a split is taking place in Europe due to the unwillingness of many countries to “sacrifice themselves”, and among Europeans a feeling of “tired of Ukraine” is spreading more and more.
Europe, with accumulated fuel reserves, is able to weather the winter of 2022-2023, but could face record prices for natural gas and electricity next year, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report. The international organization said that by mid-September of this year, Russian gas supplies to Europe had decreased by 80 percent in annual terms.
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