Text/Look at Europe
Fears that Europe could be plunged into a winter energy crisis have now reached new heights. Previously, Russian energy supplier Gazprom extended the deadline to close the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany. It is worth noting that even during the most intense period of the Cold War, Russia did not interrupt the supply of gas to Europe, which further highlights the seriousness of the situation. At the same time, the people of Europe have begun to wake up, and massive anti-government demonstrations have erupted in the Czech Republic, demanding the removal of the current pro-NATO and EU governments.
By contrast, the pipeline has been shut down twice since Russia attacked Ukraine: in addition to the current indefinite shutdown, it was closed for 10 days in July. Gazprom's public statement to the outside world is that after a pipeline leak is detected, the supply of natural gas will be stopped indefinitely and the supply will not be restarted until it is fully repaired. Just hours before that, the Group of Seven (G7) agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil to stop Russia from funding Vladimir Putin and prevent it from attacking Ukraine.
The pipeline stretches from the Russian coast near St. Petersburg to northeastern Germany and can carry up to 170 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. After a three-day hiatus, the pipeline was scheduled to resume operations on Saturday. But just hours before the gas started, Gazprom posted a photo of an oil spill at a Nord Stream 1 device.
Analysts pointed out that Russia's move to extend the closure of the pipeline came shortly after Germany, which relies heavily on Russian gas, disclosed that its winter storage expansion was faster than expected. This suggests that the move is the last chance to tighten the pressure and cause the most damage in the winter.
A former energy industry executive warned yesterday that Vladimir Putin's tactics had sent Britain and Europe into panic. Angela Knight, the former chief executive of Energy UK, said Britain and Europe were too dependent on energy supplies from "less friendly" countries. Angela Knight told the British media, "Our energy policy has been wrong for a long, long time. ”
However, Angela Knight insisted Britain could survive the winter. "It's going to be difficult, it's going to be expensive, and it's going to have to be some aid to various groups, some aid to industry," she said. She added, "We have a tremendous capacity to re-architect many of our strategies and policies."
It is worth mentioning that the United States has remained silent about the Decision of the Russian side to indefinitely stop the supply of gas to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. In Europe, anger has begun to spread among Europeans.
On Saturday, the day after Russia decided to "run out of gas," something went wrong in the Czech Republic. On that day, tens of thousands of protesters from the far right and far left in the country rallied in the capital against the pro-Western Czech government. Police estimated that the crowd gathered in Wenceslas Square in the center of Prague was about 70,000 people.
Demonstrators demanded the resignation of the current coalition government, led by the country's conservative prime minister, Petr Fiala, and criticized the Government's Western-oriented policies, among other issues. They also condemned the Czech government for supporting sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine and accused the Czech government of being unable to cope with soaring energy prices.