Their Economy Is Collapsing All Around Them As Europeans Head Into An Extremely Cold And Bitter Winter
Last winter, Europeans were looking forward to yet another year of peace and prosperity. This winter, Europeans will find themselves right in the middle of an economic collapse. It is often said that energy is the economy, and energy is going to be in very short supply in the months ahead. Thanks to the war in Ukraine and a number of other factors, energy prices in Europe have shot up to levels that would have once been unthinkable, and several European governments are already preparing to ration energy. This is going to have a tremendous impact on economic activity, and it is going to mean that this winter is going to be extremely cold and extremely bitter for millions upon millions of Europeans.
In Poland, many households usually use coal that is imported from Russia to heat their homes, but that won’t happen this year because of the war.
According to Reuters, with Poland still basking in the late summer heat, hundreds of cars and trucks have already lined up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as householders fearful of winter shortages wait for days and nights to stock up on heating fuel ahead of the coming cold winter in queues reminiscent of communist times.
Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 km (18 miles) from the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday, hoping to buy several tonnes of coal for himself and his family.
“Toilets were put up today, but there’s no running water,” he said, after three nights of sleeping in his small red hatchback in a crawling queue of trucks, tractors towing trailers and private cars. “This is beyond imagination, people are sleeping in their cars. I remember the communist times but it didn’t cross my mind that we could return to something even worse.”
Video footage of Polish citizens lined up for coal is so bizarrethat it is difficult to believe that it is actually real.
In Poland, where coal is king, dozens are lining up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, waiting for days and nights to stock up on heating fuel. Read more: https://reut.rs/3KruiYb
Millions of households will see their energy bills rocket as the price cap is hiked to £3,549 a year, plunging many into financial hardship.
The record 80% October increase, announced by the regulator Ofgem, will see a typical default tariff customer paying an extra £1,578, laying bare the deepening cost of living crisis.
The rise follows a 54% increase in April, which saw average bills surge to £1,971 a year.
A third of all UK citizens are already having trouble paying their energy bills, and this new increase won’t even be implemented until October.
So how high will that figure be six months from now?
Will half the country be struggling to pay their energy bills at that point?
Right now, poverty is on the rise all over Europe.
For example, just check out this video footage of people lined up for food in Italy’s wealthiest city.
And things are going to get a whole lot worse for western Europe if Russia decides to totally cut off the gas.
Already, Russia has reduced the amount of natural gas that it is supplying through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just 20 percent, and one German official is entirely convinced that it will soon go to zero…
Germany faces the “bitter reality” that Russia will not restore gas supplies to the country, the German economy minister said on Monday, ahead of planned halt by state energy giant Gazprom of exports to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
“It won’t come back … It is the bitter reality,” Robert Habeck said in a panel with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
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