Washington Post op-ed: 'Germany has only itself to blame' for dependence on Russian gas
'It did not have to be this way,' James Kirchick wrote about Europe's energy dilemma
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Washington Post published a guest column by James Kirchick, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, which argued that Germany's leadership should blame itself for the country becoming overly dependent on Russia for oil.
"Russia’s state-controlled gas provider, Gazprom, has just announced that it is cutting down to 20 percent of capacity the amount of natural gas it delivers to Germany through the main pipeline connecting both countries," Kirchick wrote.
"Whatever pretext Moscow might offer for the move, the real reason is clear to all: Russia is retaliating for E.U. sanctions levied because of its war against Ukraine," he continued.
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Russia President Vladimir Putin. (Alexander Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
He pointed to statements by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who complained that "Russia is using energy as a weapon."
"Von der Leyen made her announcement as if it were news. But it’s not — not to anyone who’s been paying attention over the past two decades," Kirchick wrote. "Using energy as a political weapon is hardly a novel tactic for Russian President Vladimir Putin."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That Europe faces an energy crisis because of Russian energy blackmail, then, is just as predictable as Russia’s atrocious conduct in its war on Ukraine."
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BERLIN, GERMANY - AUGUST 31: German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a ceremony to receive the Buber-Rosenzweig medal at the Chancellery on August 30, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Gora - Pool/Getty Images))
He wrote that "it did not have to be this way" and that "Europe had plenty of time to avoid the unenviable predicament in which it now finds itself."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The European energy dilemma is the result of three interrelated illusions: that dependence on Russian gas was worth whatever (minor) risks it entailed, that the supplier of that gas was a partner rather than an adversary, and that conventional war on the continent was a thing of the past," he continued.
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He criticized German politicians for "stating that their hands were tied" with regard to the Nord Stream pipeline as well as Russia's anti-nuclear energy policies.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Thanks to then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hasty decision to phase out nuclear energy by the end of 2022 by the time Putin decided to wage energy war against Europe, Germany was even more addicted to Russian gas."
"If Germans find themselves shivering more than usual this winter, they have no one to blame but themselves," he concluded.