“Political task”: how Europe plans to completely abandon energy resources from Russia by the end of 2023

All EU countries will finally get rid of energy resources from Russia by the end of 2023.

This was stated by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, in his speech at the International University in Spain.

“By the end of the year, all countries will completely get rid of Russia's energy resources.

Perhaps Hungary will become an exception for political reasons," TASS quoted him as saying.

The head of EU diplomacy added that due to the sanctions imposed by the European Union, the Russian economy "will pay a high price" for the conflict in Ukraine.

Fuel sanctions

Recall that in 2022, Brussels initiated broad sectoral economic sanctions against Moscow, and also announced its intention to refuse the supply of energy resources from the Russian Federation.

Due to restrictions from Poland, the pumping of gas through the Yamal-Europe pipeline was stopped.

Then Ukraine halved the transit of fuel from Russia to the EU through its territory, and in early autumn, the transportation of raw materials through Nord Stream 1 was stopped, since the sanctions of Canada and the European Union led to problems with the repair of equipment for the highway.

• oil tanker

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Planet One Images/UCG/Universal Images Group

At the end of September, a series of explosions occurred at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, as a result of which their further operation became impossible.

Also, the EU countries, the US and the UK banned the import of Russian oil.

The ban came into effect on December 5th.

However, it only applies to sea shipments.

Against this background, Russia began to reorient its sales markets to Asia - India and China began to buy significant volumes of oil.

In December 2022, the West imposed a price ceiling on Russian oil.

The European Union and the G7 states have banned their companies from transporting raw materials from Russia to third countries if the cost of one barrel exceeds $60.

In turn, Russia has repeatedly stressed that they will not sell fuel to these countries at such prices.

The political decision of the countries of Europe to refuse the supply of Russian energy carriers has led to a rapid rise in prices for electricity, fuel and utilities in the countries of the union.

In addition, due to a sharp rise in the cost of electricity, many European enterprises were forced to close or start moving their production to third countries, including the United States.

At the same time, the association itself recognizes that the rejection of cheap energy from Russia has a negative impact primarily on the economies of the member countries of the eurozone.

In the EU, the main opponent of these measures is Hungary.

The head of the government of the republic, Viktor Orban, said in September last year that the restrictions imposed against Moscow had the opposite effect as expected.

“We can say with confidence that as a result of the sanctions, the Europeans have become poorer, while Russia has not fallen to its knees.

This weapon had the opposite effect: Europe harmed itself with sanctions, ”the politician stated.

The cost of transformation

Moscow has repeatedly pointed out that the EU authorities themselves created the conditions for rising fuel prices and provoked an energy crisis.

So, earlier this was recalled by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

“They (European leaders. -

) pushed Europe, in particular the European Union, to a global energy collapse,” the diplomat said.

• gas torch

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB

Now the leaders of European countries have to convince their citizens that "this is not just good, it's not just right, it's in their own interests," Zakharova added.

She noted that European politicians "did a good job" in the energy sector, in particular in the story of the explosion on the strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.

“We are talking about the Baltic Sea - the area that is controlled by NATO countries, this is their area of ​​​​responsibility,” TASS quotes Zakharova.

In turn, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov believes that Europe will feel the negative consequences of the rejection of Russian energy resources for the next 20 years.

“The Europeans kept repeating, like a mantra, that it was necessary to get rid of dependence on Russia for energy resources, oil and gas,” Peskov recalled.

As a result, in European countries today "production is being curtailed, de-industrialization is on the way," he stressed.

“All this, and probably in the next 10-20 years at least, will have very, very deplorable consequences for the European continent,” Peskov concluded.

Meanwhile, according to analysts, despite the current statements by the European authorities about the imminent prospect of a complete rejection of Russian energy sources, in reality, such plans still look utopian.

“It doesn't seem realistic to me.

It is unlikely that this will happen so quickly, although Europe is moving along this course.

Oil and gas supplies have been critically reduced.

This is a political task that will be implemented sooner or later, ”said Boris Mezhuev, associate professor at Moscow State University, in an interview with RT.

At the same time, according to him, such a strategy was a real shock for the EU energy market and led to the complete zeroing of the green agenda, and also increased Europe's dependence on the United States.

“As a result, we will face a significant imbalance in Eurasia.

Previously, the periods when Russia was not a donor of anything for Europe were very short.

It will be very difficult for the EU to build a similar system after breaking off relations with Russia,” Mezhuev believes.

He added that Russia for Europe performed the functions of the lungs, providing the union with affordable energy resources.

“The amputation initiated by the EU will lead to its own strongest economic and political frustration, which the association will realize only after generations.

This is the price of such a transformation, and it is inevitable.

It is clear that the decision of Brussels to abandon Russian energy resources is purely political in nature,” the political scientist explained.

As conceived by Borrell and other representatives of the European establishment, "punishment" of Russia should contribute to the fact that the countries of the union will be more connected with each other and with the bureaucratic elite in Brussels, the analyst believes.

“Earlier it was assumed that this process would take place under the auspices of common European values: green energy, science, the fight against the pandemic, anti-Sinoism and resistance to the authoritarian model, and so on.

But then the “Russian threat” became a factor that nullified everything else,” says Mezhuev.

Nikolai Mezhevich, Chief Researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in turn, notes that Josep Borrell, declaring the complete eradication of Russian energy resources by the end of the year, demonstrates a lack of understanding of the mechanisms of the functioning of the European market.

“The European market is complexly organized.

Not only Borrell, but the entire EU energy directorate does not seem to fully understand what he is.

This is a market economy, the changes in which are going so fast that the bureaucratic system of the European Union will not be able to trace and control where energy supplies come from.

And how to determine the source of supply if there is a possibility of resale through third and fourth parties?”

the analyst explained.

At the same time, Borrell and other European bureaucrats are not very worried about the consequences of their political decisions, he believes.

“The processes of deindustrialization in Europe are proceeding consistently, but slowly.

Borrell simply won't be able to see the consequences of his decisions.

Deindustrialization is an extended process, and it will not be possible to fix it at the level of critical indicators for this year.

Borrel understands this very well, as well as the fact that now he can say whatever he wants about the rejection of energy resources from the Russian Federation and how this benefits Europe, ”concluded Mezhevich.