Energy, The Bear’s New Weapon
In the last winter, could be the worst winter for years. The climate change made many European people suffered from cold temperature. The winter becomes worst because of the gas crises between Russia and Ukraine.
The gas crises broke when Russian Government claimed that the Ukraine had stolen more then 6.3 millions cubic feet of gas. Later, Gazprom the Russian gas industry cut off the gas supply to Ukraine pipelines. That made a bigger crisis since most of European energy supply comes from Ukraine’s gas pipelines. In the middle of bad winter season, it makes many European in great danger from cold winter disaster. Fortunately, with the European Union initiative, Russian and Governments were willing to sit and negotiate the new gas price and guarantee the gas supply to Europe.
The lesson we can take from this drama is that energy is a very strategic issue. Russia understands that gas is strategic and they use it as a new weapon to gain back their domination across European countries. European countries must realize that their energy supply is vulnerable. The Russian gas dependence could be affected with many political issues. European Union must make a better deal with Russia to guarantee the supply. In other hand, European countries have to find other alternative energy resource other than oil and gas from Russia. Some countries like Denmark and Germany have started their green energy initiatives. It could be followed by the rest of European countries.
