You have probably noticed how the tone of the speeches of German politicians has changed in recent weeks: from bravura reports about the inevitability of victory over the Russians and the obligation to abandon all types of Russian energy carriers to the tragic notes of the inevitability of a gradually approaching catastrophe.

And if earlier even mentioning impending catastrophic events was considered some kind of political bad manners, from which it is not far from a completely indecent "understanding of Putin", then today the German cassanders from the highest echelons of power have almost broken the chain: here you have a "jolly" chancellor Scholz, and, quite surprisingly, the green Vice-Chancellor Habek.

And on Sunday, German Interior Minister Nancy Feser spoke quite seriously about possible radical protests in the country - of course, against the backdrop of possible mass unemployment and soaring energy prices.

As well as the difficult situation with the supply of Russian gas.

However, it was not they who became the main supplier of bad news for the Germans, but the head of the Federal Network Agency (Germany's energy regulator) Klaus Müller, who now, especially in recent weeks, has become completely sad.

Because he is in this cheerful company - a rare case - just not a politician, but some kind, but still a professional.

So, it was Klaus Müller who most of all “pleased” the grateful German audience, and twice at once: first last Thursday, saying that not only could the price of gas for German consumers rise at least three times next year, but also wait for this very scary next year is not very necessary.

We quote verbatim.

“For those who now receive heating bills, advance payments are already doubling,” Herr Müller said grimly in an interview with the RND media group.

Well, “from 2023, gas consumers will have to expect an increase in advance payments by at least three times,” the head of the German Federal Network Agency sadly stated in the same interview.

And really, no matter how jokes are now ...

At the same time, what is most amusing, according to the head of the German energy regulator, the consequences of the special operation in Ukraine are not even taken into account here.

First of all, the gradual abandonment of the "oil price formula" plays a role here, including in "long" contracts.

And the actual transfer of pricing in the gas industry into the hands of London stock exchange speculators from the ICE exchange, which began long before the special operation and continues to this day.

And here one should not be surprised that, as Klaus Müller, in particular, admitted, some prices on the stock exchanges have increased seven times right now, at the present time.

This is no longer a forecast, this is already a fact.

And everyone, including the beneficiaries of the process, knows this quite well.

And this is exactly what, by the way, Russian President Putin has repeatedly said, addressing the Europeans,

But who will listen to him, Putin?

He is the evil of the world...

Well, on Sunday, Klaus Müller made a big difference, officially admitting that he already understands that German underground gas storage facilities are not full enough to survive the winter without Russian gas.

“Fuel storage tanks are almost 65% full.

This is better than in previous weeks, but still it is not enough to survive the winter without supplies from Russia ”- this is again an official quote, commenting on this is only spoiling, sorry.

It's better to leave it as is.

At the same time, as Muller assured, German households should not worry about anything (well, except for exorbitant bills for electricity and heat, but you understand, this is a completely different story).

Heating due to the situation with the energy supply will be turned off, if anything, later than the industry.

Germany, after all, is a welfare state.

And unemployment is just a little side effect… You know what it all means?

Alas, it’s not at all that the European (primarily German) elites are ready to throw all their strength into the fight against the upcoming difficulties - and the crisis promises to be very serious.

And when German Interior Minister Nancy Feather says that she is preparing to fight radical social protests, she is, in general, not joking.

Everything is very, very serious.

And it seems that no one is going to save the economy, nor the citizens of the European Union and Germany.

They just seem to be psychologically prepared for the inevitability of at least an economic catastrophe.

And it is no coincidence that the same Klaus Müller warns fellow citizens that the country is likely to face gas shortages for at least two winters.

At least, at the end of the sensational interview with Bild - the very one where he spoke about the impossibility of living this winter without Russian gas - the head of the German Federal Network Agency stated quite transparently, ironically, at the same time washing his hands and abdicating all responsibility: “K By the summer of 2024, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection expects that we will be independent of Russian gas.

But it's also true that prices probably won't be as low as they used to be."

Curtain.

It reminds me of something, sorry.

Either the terrible caricatures of Kafka, or the ridiculous adventures of the good soldier Schweik by the great Czech Yaroslav Hasek.

Is it some kind of monstrous synthesis of them, when an outside observer, looking at what is happening, becomes both scary and funny at the same time.

And we still find it difficult to say whether the economic and social catastrophe that is approaching the lands of the Old Continent is inevitable.

But one thing is clear: they are already starting to prepare the population psychologically for it.

Moreover, they are doing this already at the highest political level - and quite seriously.

And this means that it is at least unreasonable to prevent the implementation of a radical post-apocalyptic scenario in Europe.

As they said on the Moscow streets of my youth: “Guy, he swung - hit, swing - this is already a blow.”

And therefore, this negative scenario must be taken quite seriously, if only out of respect for the common history and the realization that if everything really collapses there, we, too, will, excuse me, be splashed.

And as soon as it splashes, even our economies, until quite recently, were quite closely intertwined - it is somehow naive to deny it.

Plus, these are our traditional markets, and not only for energy raw materials.

So, we need to start preparing for such a development of events.

Thoughtfully and, excuse me, not “purely theoretically”, but quite even practically.

Moreover, it is possible that it was necessary to start doing this, perhaps, even yesterday.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.