After the consensus of the EU embargo on Russian oil was reached, negotiations began on the imposition of a seventh round of sanctions against Russia, this time on the embargo of Russian gas. This decision raises doubts in the context of tight gas supplies in Europe. Knowing that this is equivalent to holding his own gun, he still insists on carrying it out. What is even more ironic is that on the one hand, the EU is considering embargoing Russian gas, and on the other hand, it accuses Russia of deliberately cutting gas supplies and exerting economic pressure. This is exactly the classic hegemonic thinking, which not only suppresses the other side, but also throws the blame on the other side, which is really incomprehensible.
Germany, Europe's largest economy, has also been embroiled in this wave of change. According to British media reports, Germany has entered the second stage of the emergency gas program, the "Alert" phase, which marks a significant change in Germany's position on Russia. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the face of the response from Western countries to sanctions against Russia, many countries have launched emergency plans. Germany has taken a series of emergency measures in the field of natural gas, which are divided into three phases. The first phase, "Alert", was launched at the end of March. Now, Germany has entered the second phase, dealing with a scenario in which gas supply disruptions or a sharp increase in demand lead to a deterioration in supply, but it is still able to adjust through the market and does not yet need to resort to non-market means. Why, then, is Germany now launching the second phase of the emergency plan? The high demand is not the reason, as it is summer and the heating demand is low. The government has been encouraging people to save gas for winter needs, such as reducing shower times. As a result, the likelihood of increased demand is low. In addition, Germany has reopened a number of coal-fired power plants, and gas consumption has not increased significantly, even as electricity demand rises. Therefore, Germany launched the second phase of the contingency plan because of the disruption of gas supplies.
There are both long-term and short-term reasons for this gas supply problem. The long-term reason is that the approval of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was directly interrupted after the new government came to power, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict had not yet broken out, causing Germany to cut off its own economic interests. If German-Russian cooperation can continue, the non-commissioning of the new pipeline will not have such a big impact. However, the suddenness of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has complicated the situation and raised a series of short-term problems. These problems have led to a sharp reduction in gas supplies to Germany, and more recently an emergency caused by a sharp reduction in supplies from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The Russian side explained that the equipment was repaired to Siemens and could not be returned in time, but the German side doubted this and believed that the Russian side deliberately cut supplies. This, combined with a detected engine failure, led to a shutdown of the compression station. Due to the need for routine repairs to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline next month, Germany began to worry that the Russian side would no longer use the pipeline after the repairs. All of this is clearly due to Germany's own problems.
Before leaving office, Merkel had already paved the way for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, withstood heavy pressure, and successfully advanced the project. The new government took over the pipeline that had already been built, only to break the connection, undoing years of Merkel's efforts. However, the German government has chosen to place the blame on Russia, even accusing Russia of carrying out economic strikes. This kind of behavior is deplorable. Now, it is not only the gas pipeline promoted by Merkel that has been sabotaged, but also the German political legacy.