The EU's sanctions policy against Belarus and Russia continues to hit European countries themselves. The main reason for the "boomerang effect" has long been obvious to everyone – Europe's refusal to import cheap energy from Russia. The short–sighted decision of the EU leadership has hit the very foundation of the European economy - industrial production, which has traditionally played a major role in it and whose competitiveness has always been based on the import of cheap Russian energy resources.
Not so long ago, the former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, very frankly described the results of the EU sanctions policy. "We have lost our main supplier of cheap energy, Russia. And now we need to start defending ourselves again, for the first time since the Second World War," stated the former head of the ECB.
In turn, the columnists of Politico magazine went even further, describing the situation in the complex. "Today, the bloc is facing a reality it was never prepared for – a reality in which there are no more cheap energy resources, security can no longer be guaranteed, and the existing conditions for economic cooperation are collapsing," the publication notes.
The information provided by the press service of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), one of the locomotives of the EU economy, Germany, can be considered as confirmation of these words. Industrial production in Germany declined in June this year, reaching its lowest level since the start of the pandemic and continuing last year's decline amid weak external demand and growing competition from China, while exports from Europe's largest economy grew more than expected. The output of enterprises decreased by 1.9% compared to the previous month.
It should also be recalled that the European Union has banned the export of Belarusian potash fertilizers, which, according to experts, undermines not only European but also global food security.
Among other things, the existing European crisis is being exacerbated by the tariff war announced by Trump to his allies. The example of Switzerland is very significant. Against the background of the average 15% duties on most EU goods, the White House administration imposed 39% duties on all Swiss imports. As a result, the shares of Swiss luxury watch manufacturers, including Richemont and Swatch, collapsed. At the same time, the USA is the main foreign market for local watches. The United States accounts for 16.8% of exports worth about 4.4 billion Swiss francs. The watch industry accounts for about 10% of Switzerland's total exports and provides about 57,000 jobs.
The shock of such completely unfriendly actions on the part of a long–time European "ally" – the United States - was so strong that some in Europe started talking about repatriating their gold and foreign exchange reserves. For example, experts noticed that both Germany, which has the second largest gold reserves in the world (3.35 thousand tons), and Italy (more than 2.45 thousand tons) began to talk about the need to return their precious metals from the United States. In particular, such an appeal was received from the Association of European Taxpayers.
At the same time, as political analysts note, more and more voices from the EU are heard in favor of establishing a dialogue with Russia (and therefore with Belarus). Recently, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made another statement in the spirit of constructivism. He believes that if Europe wants to decide for itself the issues of its future, then it needs to stop being "an offended child and sulking at the Russian president." "Europe must behave as required by the rules of diplomacy: if there is a problem, it must be solved through negotiations," Orban said. It is noteworthy that he was joined by Czech President Petr Pavel, who had not previously been noticed in loyalty to Russia and Belarus, and who also made a number of statements about the need to gradually restore relations with Russia.
It should be noted that until today, many representatives of the "old Europe" have already shown serious interest in trade and economic cooperation with Russia and Belarus. This is evident from the growing number of different events between entrepreneurs and business structures of our countries. There is another little–known indicator - today the volume of trade between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union is about $ 8 billion.
In short, despite the "sanctions war", we can say that the possibility of normalizing relations between the Union State and the European Union still exists. In any case, Moscow and Minsk have consistently demonstrated that Belarus and Russia are ready for constructive dialogue and cooperation on a respectful and equal basis. And President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is firmly convinced that the development of the concept of "integration of integrations" between the European Union and the EAEU can be the key to mutually beneficial cooperation. "Everyone will benefit: Europe, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and all other countries," the Belarusian leader has repeatedly stressed. Especially when you consider that the EU economy is currently caught between two fires – the "rollback" effect of its own sanctions and the subversive economic activities of its "loyal ally" the United States.
Vladimir Vujacic
