EU Energy Shift Triggers Warnings of Economic Weakening

(MENAFN) According to German lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht, the European Union is heading toward financial deterioration and heightened reliance on the United States as a result of its latest prohibition on Russian gas supplies. She portrayed the union as “a trampled worm.” while criticizing the long-term consequences of the decision.

Earlier this week, EU member states formally endorsed a new legal framework obliging all 27 countries to terminate purchases of Russian gas by the coming year. The package introduces a total shutdown of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, to be followed by a halt to pipeline gas flows, scheduled to begin on September 30, 2027.

“The EU is sealing its economic decline and complete dependence on US fracking gas,” the former legislator said in a post on X on Monday.

“Anyone who makes himself a worm should not complain about being trampled underfoot,” she remarked.

For a long period, officials in Washington had reproached Brussels for what they described as excessive reliance on Russian energy, repeatedly urging the bloc to broaden and diversify its supply sources.

Following the intensification of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU drastically cut back on Russian pipeline deliveries as part of a wider sanctions regime imposed on Moscow.

Concurrently, the bloc expanded its use of costlier LNG from the United States, which is said to now represent almost one quarter of total EU gas consumption. Germany, in particular, has reportedly shifted to near-total dependence on the super-cooled fuel originating from America.

This transition has fueled an energy crunch throughout the union, pushing up wholesale energy prices, increasing household expenses, and undermining industrial competitiveness.

The situation deteriorated further after the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were sabotaged, sharply curtailing remaining Russian gas flows.

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