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Written by Piero Messina
Berlin dropped an economic thermonuclear bomb. A 200 billion euro missile that serves to protect the German economy from high gas bills. Is it a coincidence that the government led by Olaf Scholz announced the economic shield just as news of the collapse of the two Nordstream gas pipelines came from the Baltic? Obviously not, because in geopolitics every move is connected. Berlin has split Europe and on gas it does it by itself.
Germany is grappling with devastating inflation: on an annual basis the index has risen to 10%, with energy prices rising by 50%. So he decided to run for cover quickly, and he does it with real firepower. The increase in energy costs will also be partially addressed with the economic stabilization fund created in the two-year pandemic. The other European countries, grappling with an internal budget crisis, do not have the necessary resources to meet the demands of citizens and businesses.
The 200 billion put on the table by the German government show how Berlin has finally understood the “profound” objectives of the hybrid war being fought in the heart of the West. Cutting off gas supplies between Russia and Germany is a declaration of informal warfare, a blow to the heart for the chemical and mechanical engineering industry, the real driving force of Europe.
So Berlin has decided to separate its destiny from that of the European Union. Which today, faced with the energy crisis, is more disunited than ever. On the one hand, the German shield against expensive energy, to protect German companies and families with an investment of 200 billion. On the other hand, 15 member states, including Italy, France, Poland, Spain and Portugal, are calling for a generalized price cap on gas, indicating it as a “priority”. In between is Ursula Van Der Leyen’s EU Commission, which proposes a ceiling on the price of Russian gas but not on other suppliers, so as not to put a spoke in the wheel of winter supplies.
The European Union, at least on the economic level, in fact no longer exists after Scholz’s move. Brussels has realized what’s going on?
