After Russia decided to completely stop gas transmission on the Nord Stream pipeline, Europe seemed to be "early in the winter" and once again fell into an energy dilemma. On September 3, tens of thousands of Czechs, afflicted by soaring energy prices, took to the streets of the capital, becoming the latest country to erupt in anti-government demonstrations.
Comprehensive Reuters and Bloomberg reported on the 3rd that tens of thousands of Czech people gathered in Wenceslas Square in the center of the capital Prague to protest, demanding that the government take more measures to control soaring energy prices, while chanting slogans against the Eu and NATO. Organizers said the protests numbered more than 100,000, and police estimated that around 3 p.m. that day, the demonstrators reached 70,000 people.
"The best ones were given to Ukraine, only two sweaters were left for us." The political group spectrum of the demonstrations spanned from right to left, including both the far-right Freedom and Solidarity Party, which demanded the Czech Republic's exit from the European Union, and the Communist Party on the left. They called on the Czech Republic to remain militarily neutral and ensure direct contracts with Russian gas suppliers.
People protesting on the streets of Prague Twitter image
The demonstrators also demanded the resignation of the current government, led by conservative Prime Minister Fiala, criticizing its "pro-Western" policies for harming Czech interests. They accuse the government of being involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and imposing sanctions on Russia, while at the same time being helpless against soaring energy prices.
Jiri Havel, the organizer of the event, told the local news site: "The main purpose of our demonstrations is to demand change, mainly to solve the problem of energy prices, especially electricity and gas prices. This (exorbitant price) will destroy our economy this fall. ”
In addition, an online petition was posted on the rally website, in addition to the above-mentioned demands, the organizers also asked the Czech government to provide more support for local companies, while calling for the rejection of permanent resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic.
According to Deutsche Welle and RT, a sign at the event read: "The best are for Ukraine, only two sweaters are left for us." This phrase refers to rising energy prices and the cold winters that Czechs can face.
Demonstrators crowded the square to a Twitter map
70,000 people demanded that the government resign, "winter is coming." (Twitter screenshot)
According to Bloomberg' interpretation, the current inflation in the Czech Republic, driven mainly by soaring housing costs and energy prices, is the highest level since 1993. Czech banks expect inflation to rise by around 20 percent in the coming months and peak.
In response to the crisis, total Czech aid to its citizens has reached 177 billion crowns (US$7.2 billion), or about 3% of the total Czech gross national product (GDP). The package includes higher pensions, higher salaries for state workers and energy subsidies totaling 66 billion crowns.
Just the day before the demonstrations, the Czech opposition party launched a vote of no confidence in the current government. During the 22-hour marathon debate, opposition parties accused the government of being "powerless" against rising energy prices and inflation.
"Prime Minister Fiala and his ministers cannot govern our country ... The energy crisis has been completely out of their control. The leader of the opposition, former Czech Prime Minister Babiš, said.
Babiš previously shook hands with Fiara infographic
While the Czech ruling center-right five-party coalition "survived" the vote of no confidence, relying on its dominant seat in parliament, Reuters commented: "This vote shows that Europe's energy crisis is exacerbating political instability, with soaring electricity prices fueling inflation unprecedented in 30 years." ”
The Czech ctk news agency said Fiala was one of the most pro-Ukrainian leaders in europe against Russia. In response to the mass demonstration, he argued: "Wenceslas Square was initiated by pro-Russian forces whose positions were close to extremes and contrary to the national interests of the Czech Republic. ”
As the eu-elective presidency, the Czech Republic has recently launched frequent diplomatic initiatives to try to deal with the energy crisis within the framework of the EU. Over the weekend, the Czech government said it would "convene a special session of the EU Energy Council as soon as possible" to deal with soaring energy prices.
On Monday (August 29), German Chancellor Scholz visited the Czech Republic and met with Fiala. He said: "The current electricity price is obviously unreasonable because the production cost is not high. In order to solve this problem, structural adjustment is necessary. ”
Fiala said: "We agree that it is necessary to find a pan-European solution to reduce electricity prices, which are clearly not in line with the cost of production and are reaching unacceptable levels." ”
However, the two sides appear to be at odds on issues related to the EU framework. In a speech at charles university in Prague on the same day, Scholz advocated transforming the European Union into a "geopolitical Europe with global political capabilities.". On the one hand, this requires "European sovereignty" at the economic level, such as having its own high-tech production facilities, so that in the event of an escalation of disputes, it will not be economically dependent on any opponent.
In addition, Scholz called for the introduction of a "majority approval system" in EU foreign policy so that the different interests of smaller member states would no longer need to be considered. But in fact, the EU's majority pro-sanctions mechanism would lead to countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary being forced to decouple from energy suppliers. For this reason, especially smaller member states have so far rejected the majority approval system in foreign policy.
While European leaders are trying to resolve the energy crisis within the framework of the European Union, the energy conflict between the European Union and Russia is on the rise.
On September 2, the Group of Seven (G7) and the European Union (EU) made a series of statements, deciding to impose price limits on Oil and Gas products in Russia, once again raising energy tensions. Subsequently, Gazprom (gazprom) announced the "complete suspension" of gas shipments from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on the grounds of a "technical failure", without mentioning a time to resume supply. Medvedev, vice chairman of the Russian Federal Security Council, directly warned that "There will be no Russian gas available in Europe directly."
After the Russian side made this response, the Western mainstream media all focused on it, and the words expressed concern about the future energy shortage in Europe. The New York Times said russia's move was "confrontational" and "surprising" that Moscow was taking advantage of Europe's vulnerability to natural gas to turn the energy war between the two sides into a "protracted war."
Before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia supplied 40% of the gas to the EU. As Russia cuts gas supplies, Europe's energy crisis is intensifying. Oil prices have also risen sharply amid fears that Russia will cut oil flows further in retaliation for Western sanctions against it.
The latest data released by Eurostat on August 31 local time showed that inflation in 19 countries in the euro area reached 9.1% in August this year, the highest level on record. Among them, rising energy prices were the main reason for driving up inflation, with energy prices in eurozone countries soaring by as much as 38.3% in August.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.