Posted on 04/27/2022 8:59:22 AM PDT by BenLurkin
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement on Wednesday.
She said they were continuing to work with international partners to get access to alternative sources of natural gas and noted that a “coordinated EU response” was in the process of being crafted.
The development comes as Gazprom alleged in a memo that Poland and Bulgaria were refusing to use Russian rubles to pay for natural gas, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded, consequently forcing Gazprom to shut off access of fuel to the two countries,
The U.S. and others are seeking to isolate Russia economically in rebuke of its invasion of Ukraine, now more than two months in.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Economic warfare against Putin? Great idea!!!
But ... what if he fights back? That would be unexpected!
Now things are getting real. Who will blink?
Horrors! We seize $300 billion of their assets and cut them off from SWIFT and they retaliate and its not fair. lol
The EU should declare that their war on fossil fuels is over and they will not contribute another dime to global warming until the US starts producing more domestic oil and gas to backfill the Russian threats.
That will put Biden in a nice bind.
It’s not blackmail. It’s war.
Wake the hell up, Europe!
Well hey, you’re the retards who decided to sanction him for something that wasn’t your business anywise.
Unless the EU wants to invade Russia to get the gas, they don't really have a say in how Russia (as the country which actually produces the resource in question) wants to be paid.
Poland avidly and properly supports Ukraine with economic and military supplies. Why would they expect Russia, who is at war with Ukraine, to keep supplying them with natural gas and energy?
Trump tried to warn them. Did they listen?
Nooooo.
Idiots.
L
All is fair in love and war
I wonder what happened.
The market will shift. It will be short term pain. But long term, Russia is going to lose the foreign investment money that funds to exploration and development of new wells. In addition, it’s going to be a bitch getting spare parts (although much of that’s from China these days.)
Putin is a mouse economically. He is trying to roar at the world. He will end up ruining his country.
He is an arrogant fool.
Not a bad point. However...
There is more to the story. To wit:
Russia’s move is more of a threat aimed to cow other Euro countries than it is a blow to Poland, precisely because Poland’s shortfall would be nothing like, say, Germany’s, and, Poland can, mostly anyway, make up the shortfall.
“See, I really will shoot!”
Bulgaria is curious, though, because overall they’ve been considerably less hostile to Russia. So perhaps this is a case of “because we can” from the Russian perspective.
It may seem Bulgaria is particularly vulnerable because they import 90% of their gas from Russia, and might represent an initial “crack” in the Euro bloc. However, Bulgaria’s gas needs are only 3% of their energy consumption, and they have other options even for that gas. In fact they’ve been working for some time to get cheaper gas from Greece.
Here’s an excellent link that dives into the situation:
https://www.trade.gov/energy-resource-guide-bulgaria-oil-and-gas .
In effect, the Russians are huffing and puffing at a pretty sturdy Bulgarian house. And, we see how most of the media hyperventilates at, well, almost ANYTHING if it fits their purpose, which in this case is probably what the Russians are counting on. But, what the Russians can’t do anything about is solid information like the above link getting out.
;-)
Some listened (or had it figured out themselves.) See #15.
Acknowledging Trump's energy policy advice was as unthinkable as following his advice on military spending! Anything Trump says, they immediately do the opposite. Why worry about silly little things like energy security and Russian aggression? Let's have a meeting to talk about gender pronouns and how we can import more refugees!
Historically the Bulgarians had a very strong relationship with the Russians. The Orthodox Bulgarians credited Russia for preventing the Ottoman conquest of Bulgaria. This action against Bulgaria is a bit surprising but from the Russian perspective, they feel they were betrayed by their ancient ally and friend. Suspect they are sending a Slavic message. Suffice it to say there was never any bond or affection between Poland and Russia.
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