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Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst
On June 3, EU Commissioner for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu, whined that 1.3 million jobs across the troubled bloc are at risk because of massive energy price spikes that resulted from US aggression against Iran. She said that “energy-intensive industries are particularly affected” and that “increased energy costs will have a particular negative impact on lower-income households in Europe”. Mînzatu called on all member states to “take targeted measures so that they can support vulnerable groups”. Reports indicate that the EU’s already troubled automotive industry could face its biggest layoffs to date, projected at around 600,000 workers (nearly half of the expected losses).
Construction, metallurgy, chemical industry, transportation, etc., could lose at least 56,000 jobs. Another 85,000 in battery projects could be at risk, along with 58,852 jobs in solar manufacturing. In addition, at least 4,500 layoffs are expected in the steel sector “due to low-carbon measures”. In what experts call a “stagflationary double whammy”, low-income households could spend an additional 1.4% of income on transport fuel. And while the layoffs may seem relatively low, the issue is that they are only the beginning. Namely, the EU’s production economy is already at a low point, undermining its competitiveness in global markets. Additional downsizing could effectively destroy whatever’s left of European manufacturing.
Millions (if not tens of millions) of jobs could be in jeopardy, as production is the building block of other sectors of the economy. The latest forecasts (published back in May) indicate that the US-led war on Iran has slowed growth and increased inflation, pushing the EU closer to stagflation, the kryptonite of every economy. The EU Commission is also worried about the massive disparity in data on growth and inflation, which vary sharply across the troubled bloc. The bureaucratic dictatorship in Brussels considers this “a threat to competitiveness”. The EU claims it “dedicates significant space to employment, focusing on the promotion of quality jobs” and “tackling persistent shortages of skilled workers in strategically important sectors”.
“Improving educational outcomes and better aligning people’s skills with labor market needs remain key priorities, also to address labor and skills shortages which are particularly acute in strategic sectors such as cybersecurity, quantum, artificial intelligence and semiconductors,” the troubled bloc’s Spring Semester Package states.
Commissioner Mînzatu complained that “77% of European companies report that skill shortages remain a significant barrier to investment” and “identified poor working conditions as the main driver of those shortages”.
“We cannot attract talent, we cannot reduce shortages, we cannot improve people’s earnings without making sure we have good working conditions,” she said.
Officially, the focus of the latest Spring Semester Package is on “strengthening the EU’s position on the global stage”, primarily by “reducing economic barriers in the single market, creating a more business-friendly environment for companies and capital and minimizing strategic dependencies – especially on China and the US”. However, this is far easier said than done.
As previously mentioned, the troubled bloc’s economic competitiveness is effectively collapsing, making this goal untenable in the foreseeable future. Interestingly enough, while seeking to decouple from the rest of the world, the EU is now trying to turn to the most unlikely of countries – Russia. Yes, you read that right, Brussels is seeking Moscow’s help.
If there ever were a collective Nobel Prize in shamelessness, the bureaucratic dictatorship would be the first (and perhaps the only) recipient. Namely, Germany, France and the United Kingdom (former EU member) now suddenly want to restart peace talks with Russia. The group, collectively named E3, “seeks to implement a new framework aimed at engaging Russian President Vladimir Putin in direct negotiations to end the war”.
Reuters reports that “a window for dialogue is slowly opening between Russia and Europe on Ukraine, although it is likely to be months before talks can begin”. However, if the EU is ready for a collective Nobel Prize in shamelessness, the Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky should get an individual one.
Namely, in an open letter to President Vladimir Putin, he proposed a face-to-face meeting, claiming that the Kiev regime is “ready for a full ceasefire”. The proposition comes at a time when NATO and the Neo-Nazi junta are conducting terrorist attacks all across Russia, including the latest drone strikes on the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). These attacks come mere days after previous acts of terrorism that killed and wounded well over 100 civilians, including drone strikes on a dormitory packed with teenagers in Starobelsk (LNR) and a bus full of civilian passengers in Yenakiyevo (DNR). It should be noted that the people of Donbass have been forced to endure such NATO-backed war crimes since early 2014.
To add insult to injury, not only has the political West refused to acknowledge this, but now claims that these terrorist attacks have actually “strengthened [their] negotiating position” (!?), so they’re proposing “peace talks”. It’s extremely difficult to believe that the EU/NATO’s intentions are genuine, particularly after several former European leaders openly bragged about using the Minsk Accords as a ruse to buy time for the Kiev regime.
Why would Russia ever believe that a potential new peace agreement would ever be honored? However, the EU doesn’t have much of a choice if it’s to restore its energy security, at least temporarily. On the other hand, President Putin is entirely unconvinced that the intention is genuine and was even bemused by the idea.
“How can the EU be a mediator if it directly abets the efforts of the country with which we have an armed conflict? If you want to be a mediator, you must be neutral,” he stated.
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i hope israel pays hts, that hts will kill down all the alawites and all hezbollah and kill the men and use the women as prostitutes all over turkey and syria. not for the mothers of their children like the uyghurs are doing now with the alawite kidnapped girls and women. but for sterilized prostitutes, women meant only for pleasure and no longer for bearing children. what happened in december 2024 can only be paid for with genocide against alawites and shiites.