Four in five Europeans say Brussels partly responsible for crisis

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Jan 2023 21:09

A recent survey showed that nearly 80% of Europeans are extremely dissatisfied with Brussels and its role in fomenting the energy crisis.

A union worker wears a photo of European Council President Charles Michel on his helmet which reads 'Every month of crisis, I manage it" during a demonstration in Brussels, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

A poll conducted by the Századvég Foundation revealed that four in five Europeans believe the European Commission is partly responsible for triggering the energy crisis that swept Europe, for now, more than a year, sources reported on Wednesday.

About 79% of the 38,000 participants in the survey which was conducted between October 13 to December 7 believe that the Commission had a role in the energy price surge, up from 75% in early 2022.

On the other hand, 21% disapproved that the Commission had a role, in comparison to 25% sampled between January 3 and February 14 of last year.

Of all countries sampled, Croatia and Greece showed to have the highest level of dissatisfaction with Brussel's energy policy, both recording 86%, followed by Germany which stood at 85%.

But Hungary and Denmark recorded the lowest percentage of dissatisfaction among participants, with 65% and 60% respectively.

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Over the past year, Russia decided to gradually halt its supplies of gas to European states due to western-imposed sanctions over the Ukrainian conflict. It has since then sparked a massive crisis which has caused the cost of living to increase drastically.

The situation is now worsening due to the lack of energy supplies to activate heating systems in homes during winter.

After the West decided to illegally freeze Russian assets, Putin announced on March 31, 2022, that "unfriendly countries" are required to pay for gas supplies in rubles.

Gazprom has already halted its shipments to energy companies supplying to Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia, and Germany, due to their defiance of the pay-in-ruble system.