Accents of Europe

Inflation, the number one enemy of European countries

Audio 7:30 p.m.

The European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, March 9, 2022. © AP Photo/Michael Probst, File

By: Juliette Rengeval Follow

3 mins

After years of a policy of cheap and abundant money, the European Central Bank (ECB) announces a first increase in its key rates for July.

This is a turning point, as European countries have lived in recent months with galloping inflation.

An increase pushed by the war in Ukraine which increases the prices of energy and food.

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In Germany, inflation rose to 8% in May, unheard of for almost 50 years.

Germany, like many of its European neighbours, is facing very steep price increases.

To deal with it, the authorities have decided on an impressive package of measures. 

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Faced with inflation, the wage issue is becoming more and more pressing

Along with Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Cyprus and Austria, Italy is one of the six European countries where there is no minimum wage.

And it is the only country in the European Union where wages have not increased in the last 30 years.

Worse, they have even fallen by nearly 3% from 1990 to 2020. The rise in inflation in the country has put the establishment of a minimum wage back on the table.

But the question divides in the peninsula, 

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Political crisis and economic crisis in Bulgaria

In a Bulgaria hit hard by rising prices, the economic crisis is now coupled with a political crisis.

Bulgaria's foreign and energy ministers resigned earlier this week, following their party's withdrawal from the governing coalition last week.

Along with Romania and the Baltic countries, Bulgaria is one of the countries where the cost of living has increased the most over the past year.

And among those most vulnerable to these increases are the elderly.

Despite an increase in retirement pensions, they must now go back to work or ask their relatives to help them financially.

In Sofia, a report by 

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War in Ukraine and Western sanctions weigh heavily on Russian economy

In April, in Russia, the rise in prices reached almost 18% over one year, unheard of for twenty years.

It slowed down a bit in May, but still appears at 17%.

This record inflation, coupled with an increase in the use of partial unemployment in order to avoid layoffs, is seriously undermining the purchasing power of Russians, who have a low savings rate.

More details in Moscow from our correspondent 

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British justice authorizes deportation of migrants to Rwanda

British justice validates the government's controversial plan to send asylum seekers back to Rwanda, rejecting a last resort by human rights associations.

Defenders of rights speak of an illegal measure.

London, for its part, claims to want to control immigration when since the beginning of the year, around 10,000 people have arrived on British shores after crossing the Channel.

The details of 

, in London.

European of the week: Igor Strelkov

One of the leaders of the Donbass separatists is now one of the most violent critics of Russian military strategy.

This is

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This former de facto commander-in-chief of the pro-Russian forces in the separatist east of Ukraine was renowned for his ultra-nationalist positions.

He now actively comments on social networks on the course of the war and he spares neither Vladimir Putin nor his Minister of Defense.

Her portrait by 

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