From gas to trade, Putin’s preventive sanctions: it is Moscow that damages our national interests
"Italian national interests". How many times, in the last weeks of crisis in Ukraine, have we heard the invocation of “Italian national interests”, especially from those who are critical of NATO and are inclined to justify Putin's reasons? These "national interests", however, always remain an abstract concept, they are never defined. The front is far away, we are fighting in the Donbass, it is unlikely that the war will reach the Italian territory, therefore national security interests in the strict sense are not at stake. Apart from the approximately two thousand compatriots who live in Ukraine and have not yet packed their bags (or who do not even intend to pack them), no Italian is risking their life. The interests that concern us are therefore above all economic: gas, first of all, then trade with the two countries involved, with Russia and with Ukraine. And now who is threatening these interests? The answer will surprise you (as a click-catcher headline would say).
In fact, there is only one country involved in the crisis that is systematically damaging Italian interests: Putin's Russia. Although Maria Zakharova the spokeswoman for Minister Lavrov said on Italian TV that the gas supply "is guaranteed", the reality is the opposite. In fact, from December to January, the supply of Russian gas to Italy was reduced by 43 percent . And there are no technical or commercial justifications that hold, because Russia, in the same months, has never reduced the export of gas to Germany. Among other things, the flow resumed at pre-crisis volumes after the brief telephone consultation between Prime Minister Draghi and President Putin, so it means that there is only one political choice behind the decision to turn off the tap halfway. The message is very clear (and reading between the lines even Zakharova said it): if you are good, let's not turn off the tap. But in the meantime we gave you a squeeze. Germany, the soft underbelly of Europe and courted to launch the doubling of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, must be favored. All the others, on the other hand, must understand that they do not support the Ukrainian cause.
How much has that Russian "squeeze" impacted on the expensive bills that are crucifying families and businesses in Italy? Much. Suffice it to say that Russian gas accounts for 38 per cent of consumption in Italy. Moscow is our first supplier. And 42 percent of our energy production depends on gas, almost double that of Germany (not to mention France). The governments that have succeeded each other so far, rejecting all possible alternatives (no to Tap, no to drills, no to regasifiers, no to other energy sources, etc …) have put us in the condition in which, if Russia sneezes, we take pneumonia.
The trade chapter, in a broad sense, demonstrates once again that it is the Putin regime that is harming our interests. Indeed, the European Union is only discussing sanctions, but the Kremlin, without even announcing them, has already applied them against us. Moscow has banned , for at least two months, the export to the rest of the world of ammonium phosphate and other fertilizers of which it is oligopolistic, precisely in the period in which we have to cultivate the fields. According to the Agricultural Consortiums of Italy, this "joke" will cause a "price tsunami" of all wheat derivatives: pasta, bread, durum wheat flour. A crisis of "assault on the ovens", therefore, is also directly provoked by the intimidation policies decided by the Kremlin. And in the midst of the economic crisis, in times of inflation, we didn't really need it.
So, what are those who invoke "national interests" talking about, saying that Italy should be more independent from the US and more friendly with Russia? Do they ignore what Moscow is doing to us? Or do they know this and for this reason they speak of "national interests"? Because, especially among the sovereignists, this clear tendency towards masochism is noted. Like when all Europeans became pro-Arabs in 1974, after the oil strike of the Arab OPEC countries, offended because Europe was not hostile enough to Israel. We had to let him destroy the Jewish state, supporting the purposes of the Islamic regimes that do not admit its existence, otherwise we would have paid dearly, suffering terrorism and riding a bicycle instead of a car. And then, even those who were not yet anti-Zionists became so, in order to tame the aggressor and the blackmailer. Today, with Russia, the same attitude is noted. But then, please, let's not talk about pride, nor about sovereignty, nor about national interests.
The post From gas to trade, Putin's preventive sanctions: it is Moscow that damages our national interests appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL https://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/dal-gas-al-commercio-le-sanzioni-preventive-di-putin-e-mosca-a-danneggiare-i-nostri-interessi-nazionali/ on Thu, 17 Feb 2022 03:53:00 +0000.