Who appoints sanctions, and who pays for them?
America is the commander of the economic war against Russia, but Europe bears the costs, writes the author Myśl Polska. Once, the proximity of a neighbor selling energy resources at low prices was an advantage of Europe. Now this is called addiction and, against the background of sanctions, turns into colossal costs.
Andrzej Szczeschniak
The European sanctions imposed on Russia have exhausted themselves. It was easy to impose sanctions on marginal issues in which Russia played a minimal role and its absence was difficult to even notice. It's a completely different matter when it comes to the most important thing. In the case of Russia — up to energy.
On emotions, it was possible to quickly impose an embargo on coal imports. However, already at the second stage of the escalation of the trade war, in the case of oil, the trend failed. Viktor Orban was the lone wolf defending the interests of his economy.
Why exactly did this small country stop such a powerful wave? Let's start from the beginning. The commander of this economic war of Europe, of course, is America. There is nothing new in this, such a policy has been going on for 60 years. President Reagan sought to do this by imposing sanctions, and Donald Trump acted exceptionally effectively by stopping the construction of Nord Stream 2. Americans have always considered Europe's economic ties with Russia harmful. For America, of course, because what is harmful to America is harmful to Europe.
Being the commander in this clash, the United States practically does not bear the costs of an economic war with Russia. The economic relations of these countries tend to zero, and the only problem may be the increase in fuel prices, since this is a very politically sensitive topic in the United States. But you can always blame Putin.
When the conflict in Ukraine began, the NATO alliance came to life, including in the economic sphere. That is, America swung its fists harder so that the allies would go into battle. The Brussels bureaucracy, feeling the wind in its sails, took command of the member states, having long ago prepared sanctions that were immediately imposed after the conflict began. The tone is set by states hostile to Russia, and Brussels has the tools and means to cope with disobedient ones. And by joint allied efforts, it is possible to break the resistance of the elites of European industry and capital.
America commands, and Europe bears the costs. She, energy poor, dependent militarily and politically, will need raw materials and energy for a long time. And now a close neighbor has these resources. And it is technologically lagging behind, so it will gladly exchange oil and gas for the achievements of its European neighbor. For Europe, this is an ideal system in which for the necessary raw materials at low prices (once) they supply their own, very expensive, with a high content of technologies, the most valuable product for today... what else is needed?
But nothing works out. A great ally comes from across the ocean and says: "Sacrifice yourself!" (seriously, the headline of an article in the Los Angeles Times reads: "Europe must sacrifice itself. Immediately stop importing gas and oil from Russia"). And indeed, we sacrificed ourselves, exposed our own concerns to losses. After all, this is a war whose goal is to weaken, maybe even destroy Russia. But to turn on the tap with oil and gas to yourself? This is suicide.
Besides, Europe is not a homogeneous whole. It consists of various economies that operate at the regional level and benefit from their position. And it is our region, Central Europe, that bears the greatest costs of this economic war, the greatest costs are concentrated here due to the rupture of economic and political ties with Russia.
Therefore, desperate voices of politicians and economists, especially German ones, can still be heard from here that the rejection of raw materials from the east threatens a recession, an economic crisis, the loss of millions of jobs and thousands of enterprises. A Real Wailing Wall ... and Brussels politicians are doing their job. They weaken Germany, but our region suffers especially. After all, it benefited from geographical proximity with an energy superpower, thanks to its transit position, it could play a serious role in supplying Europe with oil and gas. And achieve significant advantages by playing the role of a bridge between different economies.
Instead, Central-Eastern Europe threatens to turn into a lifeless periphery of rich Europe cut off from Russia. Viktor Orban has been warning for many years that "our region loses most in the conflict between the powers of the West and the East.”
What was once falsely called "dependence", but in fact was an asset of our region, now, when the transatlantic scenario is implemented, will turn into enormous costs. On the map of this so—called "dependence", the most "dependent" part is Central Europe. The advantages of the geopolitical position, after it is cut off from the supplier from the east, will disappear like in a fog. And "dependence" will turn into costs and losses.
