He said that the status quo requires sacrifice

German Energy Minister: Russia's cancellation of gas shipments threatens to hit our economy hard

Robert Habeck.

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The energy crisis in Europe is worsening with the Ukraine war that does not seem to end soon.

German Energy Minister Robert Habeck believes that his country is in a real test and that Russia is shifting pressure on the population by reducing gas quantities.

Here are excerpts from an interview with Der Spiegel magazine:

■ Adaptability and willingness to tighten the belt.

Are these traits present in the Germans?

■ ■ It is certain that the German people bear today's high prices and high inflation with great solidarity.

It is a strong response to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin's intention to divide our society by rising prices.

Putin wants our country to tear itself apart;

But we are not tearing ourselves apart.

■ Do you see similarities between the 1973 crisis, when oil countries stopped supplies, and the crisis we are going through today?

■ ■ What we are witnessing today is more dangerous and deeper than what happened in that crisis.

Canceling gas shipments, today, would hit our economy more hard and on a larger scale than the oil shortage at the time.

Meanwhile, Russia's attack on Ukraine is a historic encroachment on the European peace order, to the point where we are facing an entirely different world order as a result.

■ Are Germans ready to accept this difficult situation to achieve a noble goal?

■ ■ I think most people have a good sense of what is at stake right now.

The war in Ukraine is very close.

We have heard stories of women who watched their children die by their side, at the age of 19, who wanted to study at university and go to the beach, and instead had to defend their country.

And life in freedom and safety is no longer self-evident.

As such, I see great determination not to allow Putin to get away with accountability, even if it comes at a price.

And we make a significant contribution to ensuring that peace and the rule of law are possible in the future, too.

■ Do you think personal sacrifices made by individuals are trivial?

■ ■ No, it's not easy, it's important.

But the sacrifices are very unevenly distributed.

Those who earn a lot can handle the higher prices.

But I know many people who run out of money before the end of the month.

There are people who were not able to heat all the rooms in their apartment, during the last winter.

And we have to be honest: it's not over yet and more people will be affected.

■ Do you think that Putin will completely suspend natural gas shipments to Germany before next winter?

■ I don't want to be a psychologist analyzing Putin's personality;

But there is a clear pattern: Putin reduces the amount of gas delivered step by step, and keeps prices high by cutting supplies.

And in doing so, he wants to increase pressure on the population to spread uncertainty and fear, the perfect breeding ground for the populism that he hopes will destroy our liberal democracy from within.

■ Regarding the coming winter, I said: If the gas is turned off, we are “out in the open.”

It looks rather bad.

What do you mean exactly?

■ ■ We are already in a situation that Germany has never experienced before.

If shipments of Russian natural gas remain as low as they are now, then we face a shortage of gas.

We are turning to alternatives, and we are rapidly expanding our LNG infrastructure.

■ Some say they are not ready to bear the burden, because the federal government has spent decades pursuing the wrong energy strategy?

■ ■ It is true that the energy policies of the past decades have led us to rely on Russia and put obstacles in the way of the expansion of renewable energy.

This is the source of all the chaos.

But it is not helpful to say that others are wrong, so I will not do the right thing.

Like someone says: No one in the family cleans, so I won't clean.

The apartment will become very messy in a very short period of time.

I see great determination not to let Putin escape accountability, even if it comes at a price.

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