Brussels has reacted strongly to Vladimir Putinby destroying Russia with a series of sanctions aimed at crippling the belligerent country’s economy and completely derailing its war effort. But Putin has so far not been deterred by all this, and there are now fears that he may soon launch his own political war against the European Union as part of a vicious revenge plot. Hundreds of millions of Europeans are facing a bitterly cold winter and have been urged to ration gas if the possibility of Putin cut off supply to the continent completely.
The EU has claimed the move is “politically motivated”, with gas supply to Europe from Russia via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline rapidly plummeting to just a fifth of its capacity.
In addition, inflation in the eurozone rose to 8.9 percent in July, from 8.6 percent a month earlier – with the euro falling to par against the US dollar for the first time in more than 20 years earlier this month.
Charles-Henri Gallois, chair of France’s Generation Frexit campaign, warned that EU sanctions against Russia are counterproductive and warned that a recession in the eurozone is now “clear”.
He told Express.co.uk: “Some European countries, such as Germany and Italy, are very dependent on Russian gas. You can’t replace it like that.
“Other European countries, including France, will also suffer because Russia was a major oil supplier.
“Very cheap and they did it with contracts in euros. Now we buy the same oil but through India or Saudi Arabia with a surcharge and in dollars. As the euro falls, it becomes even more expensive.
“It’s kind of hypocritical because the same goes for gas – you can’t replace Russian oil this way. You don’t have the facilities and the equivalent.
“Economic sanctions are doing more damage to Europe than to Russia. The recession is clear.”
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“The sanctions against Russia are suicide for Europe. Economic sanctions that affect you more than Russia is completely stupid.
“I am against the invasion of Ukraine, but we must end sanctions and focus on peace to prevent suicide in Europe.
“If we don’t do it, Europe may face the worst financial crisis in its history.”
Friday was good news for the euro-zone economy, after it emerged that it had grown much faster than expected in the second quarter of this year.
But economists warned that another burst of higher inflation and supply chain problems could lead to a mild recession before the end of 2022.
Euro-zone GDP rose slightly by 0.7 percent compared to the first three months of this year, up four percent year-on-year – better than forecasts of quarterly earnings of 0.2 percent and 3.4 percent year-on-year .
Inflation in the eurozone, however, soared to a new all-time high in July – to 8.9 percent from 8.6 percent a month earlier – and the worst may not be over yet.
ING economist Bert Colijn: “The acceleration of economic growth is mainly due to reopening effects and masks underlying weakness due to high inflation and production problems.
But the expert warned: “As of now, we expect GDP to continue a downward trend as the reopening of services moderates, global demand declines and purchasing power persists.
“We expect this to result in a mild recession from the second half of the year.”