Did the E.U. betray its people with its Ukraine strategy?
The E.U. sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022 aimed to isolate and financially destroy Russia.
- Did they work?
- Was the right decision?
- And is the E.U. respecting the European values?
The useless leitmotiv of sanctions?
The U.S. is the world leader when sanctions are the subject. They have imposed them against dozen of countries around the world. Guatemala, Venezuela, Cuba, Malawi, Iran and also South Korea in 1975 have been punished with the primary powerful economic weapon.
Whoever tries to take any decision not allowed by Washington faces harsh consequences. Therefore the E.U., a military and economic ally of the United States, now shares the same principles and desire for” justice and democracy”.
After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the E.U. imposed sanctions on Russia. The goal was to weaken Putin’s position and the Russian economy to isolate Moscow.
Does this music sound familiar in 2022? Of course, those rounds of sanctions didn’t include gas and oil. But did they work? Clearly no.
Russia, in 2022 is still an economic and military superpower. Moscow increased its international relationships in Africa, China and India. The Kremlin was also one of the founders of the new economic sphere named BRICS.
We will discuss the reasons behind the Ukraine conflict in another post, so ensure you receive our updates.
So, did the EU learnt the lesson? Unfortunately no.
On February 2022, the E.U. imposed further sanctions on Russia. This time Bruxelles went all-in, including freezing the assets of private citizens and banks and, most importantly, sanctioning Russian oil and coal.
As reported in March 2022 by Reuters, E.U. officials said that their sanctions are finally starting to work. So today, we are in October 2022. Do you think the sanctions are fulfilling their purpose? We don’t. And let us give you some data about the cost of crude oil vs natural gas from 2017 to September 2022:
- The price of gas, in orange, started to skyrocket almost one year before the beginning of the special military operation. Why? The reason is the increased request for natural gas after most COVID restrictions have been lifted. Businesses around the world restarted their activities, and energy is the key to a prosperous economy;
- The cost of natural gas and oil is now almost six times higher than before the E.U. imposed sanctions on Russia;
What are the consequences if the price of energies is six time higher than normal?
The math is pretty simple: multiply your previous energy bills by six. So if a family used to pay a monthly € 100,00 now, excluding potential support coming from the governments, they would have to pay € 600,00!
If this is already shocking, consider small businesses like your local pub or bakery. Companies will need to let you pay six times more for your bread or pint of beer. And we genuinely doubt that you are keen to pay £ 20,00 for a beer despite how much you may love your pint.
High inflation and recession are the results of useless sanctions
We previously mention how the governments can support family and businesses during the energy crisis era, but at what cost?
- The Euro zone heavily suffered the pandemic and, in order to keep businesses alive, it needed to borrow billions of Euro. As we unfortunately know, it caused the terrible inflation our economy is facing.
- From a painful 5% in 2021, we reached 8.9% in 2022. The graphic clearly shows how badly the E.U. managed the pandemic and the energy crisis. Not even slowly, Bruxelles is killing its economy and destroying families and businesses.
Interest rates will put families and businesses on the street.
If the cost of living wasn’t challenging enough, to bring down inflation a classical economic procedure is to increase interest rates. And if on one side this is good news for who keep into saving accounts their money; on the other hand, this measure will make impossible for thousands of family to pay their mortgage.
And to make the situation even worse, companies that are already struggling to keep payment with the skyrocketing energy prices, will have to pay more interests on their loans.
And the pain will be felt also by the governments who will have to pay much more interests on their national debt. Let’s speak it clearly, this is pure madness.
The E.U. says that we are defending democracy and freedom, but of who?
The G7 block tells us that the” unprovoked” war started by President Putin is the cause of their suicidal sanctions. We had to quote” unprovoked” because it’s an adjective abused since February. The whole block and media must say the same version, but we want to provide you with just a part of what we will tell you in the coming days.
The G7 version of the story was that President Putin was terminally ill and unable to make rational decisions. But, of course, that is not precisely the truth that we expect from democracies and free countries. But we would like to invite you to read the article written by our colleagues at The Guardian in 2014 when the propaganda machine didn’t start in Europe.
We will tell you more in the coming days. But again, we don’t support the war, but we believe that acknowledging the facts is the first step to build dialogue and peace.
So, what is the E.U. doing wrong? And how are they betraying the Europeans?
- Deny the issues that caused the military operation.
We insist on this point because Ukraine’s civil war started in 2014. The U.N. reported in 2016 human rights violations committed in Ukraine in the Donbas region. You can download the U.N. report at this link.
Denying the evidence is criminal because people died and continue to suffer the atrocities of war.
Europe partially did a good job since 2014 trying to solve the Donbas civil war, providing the famous Minsk Agreements. But it wasn’t enough because no one respected them, and civilians kept dying bombed by the Ukrainian army and the response of the Russo-separatists.
But this is just a part of the causes behind the conflict. We will tell you more.
Europe is not acting according to the European values.
- The EU must guarantee that the opportunity and wealth are equally distributed. It must guarantee “sustainable development” meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future generations. And it has to guarantee “perpetual peace” in Europe.
Wealth and opportunities are favouring the richer of our communities. Just think about the ridiculous amount of profits energy companies are achieving.
Because of the sanctions, we are entering a recession, and this is far from the concept of” sustainable development.” Finally,” perpetual peace” is a mirage if the E.U. leaders talk like generals instead of politicians.
Bruxelles is guilty of not pursuing negotiations and compromises but crazily talking about defeating Putin’s military. It’s not what the E.U. should deliver to its people.
- E.U. didn’t invest in new sources of energy.
- The E.U., instead of pursuing new and green powers, made almost nothing to honour the promises made by the Paris Agreement to reduce the impact of climate change. Instead, the E.U. is turning on nuclear and coal power stations. It’s a complete failure of years of planning decisive actions, and it’s not fulfilling Greta Thunberg’s wishes.
The expensive bill of a proxy war.
Day by day it becomes clear that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is a proxy war between Russia and America. Moscow is fighting to protect their geopolitical businesses in Ukraine, and also its credibility around the world.
America, instead, is committed, as reported by President Biden, on weaken the Russia economy and, possibly, remove Putin ”the butcher”, as the American President called him during a moment of ”sham politics”. But America is also trying to restore it’s international position lost in the last decade, unfortunately, destabilizing regions around the world.
But, tragically, the price of those terrible actions must be paid by the people of Ukraine ( unfortunately a new European Syria ) and by the people of Europe forced to shut down their businesses and at risk of losing their houses without having the possibility to express their wishes. It doesn’t sound like the democracy Europe would like to protect at any cost.
The E.U. can’t lose Russia.
Russia is part of Europe and it must remains. We think that renouncing to a beneficial partnership with Moscow is against Europeans interests. Russia is a country full of essential resources to boost Euro businesses, as we know, such as gas, oil and fertiliser.
Russia is also an essential mediator between Europe and other superpowers, such as China and India. So we must consider European interests, not hypocritical slogans and propaganda.
Yes, Russia escalated the 2014 conflict against Ukraine in 2022. Let’s be transparent. If the E.U. decides to stop business with Moscow, it should do the same with Azerbaijan after it invades Armenia, but no one said anything in Bruxelles instead. And this is concerning.
And what about the United States, with its scary curriculum of wars worldwide? Let’s be realistic because we must design a worldwide future of peace, prosperity and balance.
But there is something scarier and more concerning.
Some of the latest statements from European leaders are at least debatable. For example, Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister of Germany, said:
“We stand with you, as long as you need us, then I want to deliver. No matter what my German voters think, I want to deliver to the people of Ukraine”.
Annalena Baerbock, Germany Foreign Minister.
Dangerous words because the Minister must remember that she has to defend the interests of the people who pay her salary, and that she represents; otherwise, it becomes a personal choice and a hazardous one for our weak democracies.
But Mrs Baerbock is not the only E.U. member who released worrying statements. This time we want to mention the President of the European Union, Ursula Von Der Leyen. She sent clear messages to the new Meloni government in Italy.
“My approach is that whatever democratic government is willing to work with us, we’re working together,” von der Leyen said at Princeton University in the United States, responding to a question on whether there were any concerns with regard to the upcoming elections in Italy.
“If things go in a difficult direction, I’ve spoken about Hungary and Poland; we have tools”.
Ursula Von Der Leyen, E.U. President
Is dialogue still an option in Europe?
A clear statement to Italy. If we look closely at her words, she is saying that Meloni can’t do anything without her blessing; otherwise, there will be consequences. So we can’t say that new ideas are welcomed in the E.U. But if Europeans support Ukraine in defending the values of freedom and democracy, then Von Der Leyen’s statements are indeed confusing.
Especially if we look at the passion and energy, she is spending advocating for Ukraine. And at this point, we become more confused.
Ukraine is not in a better position than Italy.
- Ukraine banned eleven opposition parties in March 2022;
- As we mentioned above, in Ukraine the U.N reported human rights violations in Donbas. In eight years, Ukraine authorities killed 3400 civilians in the Donbas region.
- Ukraine, as well as Russia, didn’t respect the Minsk agreements;
- Zelensky banned the opposition media in Ukraine; The only information people receive is controlled by the government;
- We have to say that the “democratic” E.U. also banned Russian media in Europe. Not exactly the right move for those advocating to defend freedom because to evaluate facts, people need to see the two sides of a story.
- Amnesty International accused Ukraine of putting it in danger the civilians adopting not lawful fight tactics in 2022;
Which democracy and freedom are we defending?
At this point, we have one question for the E.U. President:
- Which democracy and freedom are the E.U. defending?
- How can Ukraine become the priority number one of the E.U. while the Union members risk their economic collapse?
- Is the E.U. acting in the interests of its citizens?
But also:
- Who authorises the E.U. to take the Ukraine side?
- Ukraine is not a. E.U. member and doesn’t even have a NATO membership.
So please don’t get us wrong because we appreciate the engagement to support justice worldwide. But we have more than fifty wars around the world, and we have never seen such passion and determination.
Europe needs a referendum, if the E.U. still remember what is it.
Therefore, sacrificing the economy and security of the European Union is not negotiable without involving the citizens of Europe in a referendum. So let’s be clear; the E.U doesn’t have any democratic mandate from its citizens to destroy their economies supporting a war, that can easily be solved via diplomacy.
But there is more. The 2022 Russian invasion resulted from the European failure to implement the Minsk agreements. And, dear President Von Der Leyen, this was your responsibility.
Our note for President Von Der Leyen.
We want to close with a note for the leaders of the E.U. — The commission indeed has tools to correct the “democratic behaviours” of its members, but, dear Von Der Leyen, please never forget that people have tools too, as we have seen in France, Germany, Belgium and Italy.
And that you are their representative and not their owner. People won’t forget. We can’t say that the E.U. is acting politically fair to its people.
Let us know your opinion in the comment section below. Do you agree with our analysis? And what’s your opinion?
