As part of its response to Moscow's actions in Ukraine, Canada imposed de facto economic sanctions against Germany.
Some kind of nonsense?
This is how they think in Germany.
But in Canada, on the contrary, they are sure that they are absolutely right.
“I can’t report progress.
I am not aware of any changes” — this is how a representative of the German Ministry of Economy answered the question in the middle of this week if Canada was ready, by chance, to back down in a dispute over the transportation of Siemens turbines.
You do not know about the essence of this scandal?
Then get ready for a long (or rather, very long) laugh.
I am a big fan of that movie genre, which in English is called screwball comedy.
This term can be translated into Russian as an eccentric, burlesque, farcical or extravagant comedy.
However, what am I doing in the selection of terms?
Let me get straight to the point.
In screwball comedy everything is very fun, very cheerful and very absurd.
The heroes of such comedies constantly find themselves in completely impossible situations.
Around them, something collapses, something explodes, and they themselves fall somewhere, fall or find themselves alone with charismatic, but very wild animals.
Classic examples of screwball comedy are, for example, Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Tiny (Tiny is a leopard), It Happened One Night (the daughter of a millionaire tyrant flees from his yacht, becomes a victim of a suitcase thief,
catches passing cars, lifts his skirt, and so on), French films with Pierre Richard and Louis de Funes, domestic comedies by Leonid Gaidai.
But these are all cinematic masterpieces from the past.
And here's a not-so-cinematic screwball comedy masterpiece from the present.
Canada and Germany, as members of one "big and friendly Western political family", impose large-scale sanctions against Russia.
As part of these sanctions, Canada is refusing to transport Siemens gas equipment, which ensures the smooth operation of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Without this equipment, Russia is reducing the supply of blue fuel through this gas pipeline.
Germany is panicking, indignant, blaming everyone involved and not involved in all mortal sins.
In particular, German Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck said: "Restricting gas supplies via Nord Stream is also an attack on us, an economic attack on us."
And although the chain of events that led to the restriction of gas supplies through the Nord Stream was launched by Canada, Robert Habek accuses Russia of a "deliberate economic attack" on his country.
This is how it should be in films of the screwball comedy genre.
Without confusion, confusion, "search for the guilty, punishing the innocent and rewarding the uninvolved" they can not do.
Of course, any, even the most beautiful screwball comedy, still has an end.
And the end of the screwball comedy with turbines, unfortunately (forgive my cynicism, but it all looks very funny), is already close.
Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson confessed in an interview with Bloomberg the other day: “We want to respect the sanctions, because the sanctions were imposed for a reason.
At the same time, the purpose of the sanctions was never to cause serious damage to Germany,
which is one of our closest friends and allies.
Therefore, we are very concerned about this issue.”
A little later, a message came that the topic of Siemens turbines might be the subject of discussion at the upcoming G7 summit in Germany.
In short, they will soon destroy everything.
When "high Western moral principles" conflict with Western interests, principles tend to be the losers.
But even when Canada "liberates the turbines from captivity", the sediment from this scandal will still remain.
And to describe this sediment, using terms like screwball comedy, will not succeed.
Has anyone invented the term screwball tragedy yet?
If not, then it's time to do so.
The turbine situation has become one of the main news because of its exceptional importance.
If this situation is not resolved manually, then Germany will find itself in an energy and economic knockout.
But the "manual clearance" mode has its obvious limitations.
It is used in the West only in exceptional cases.
But what about situations that are not recognized as "exceptional"?
What to do in situations where the economic damage from Western sanctions is painful, obvious and large-scale, but not large enough to
to force the leaders of the G7 to step on the throat of their own song?
In such situations, according to the new Western norms, it is supposed to endure and "accept the pain."
But here's the question: won't the cumulative amount of pain from many similar "small situations" exceed the amount of pain that would arise if the "big problem" with the turbines remained unresolved?
I'll venture a guess: it will eventually be so.
A mosquito is a very small creature.
But if you are bitten by 20 mosquitoes within an hour, then, trust my experience, the sensations will be unforgettable.
This is probably the main political and economic conclusion from the "Canadian attack on Germany."
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.