Big crack: "Should not fight against ourselves"

Big crack: "Should not fight against ourselves" 

WOLFGANG HANSSON on the facade of the USA and the EU 

Wolfgang Hansson 

The cracks behind the unified facade

Published: Today 17.03 

Updated: Less than 30 minutes ago 

This is a column. Analysis and opinions are the writer's own. 

COLUMNISTS 

 Unity is a mantra that is repeated time and time again by leaders. 

Almost like a magic formula. Of course, there is a great deal of agreement between Europe and the United States on the determination to stop Putin.

But behind the outwardly united facade, there are visible cracks. 

Before, during and after the last two days' summits in Brussels, there has been a deafening beat on the drums to show how united the EU, the US and NATO are in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. 

You are not content to show it only in action. Every single leader constantly feels compelled to point out the degree of consensus and how important it is to end the war. 

With that in mind, it must be said that the results of the three summits were rather meager. 

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find new sanctions that hit Russia hard without at the same time pulling the rug for the EU countries. 

The United States has decided to put another 400 leading Russians on the sanctions list. The EU could not agree on any new sanctions. 

But a fifth package is said to be underway. New battle groups of NATO troops are to be formed in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. A few thousand soldiers, many of whom will be from their own countries and thus no real reinforcement. 

What is important is the signal to Putin that NATO is ready to defend every inch of its territory. 

US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the NATO summit on Thursday. 

US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the NATO summit on Thursday. Photo: Henry Nicholls / AP 

Collapse without Russian gas 

Both the US and the EU have previously promised to send more weapons, but no new decisions were made at the three summits held in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. 

Where there is a crack in the joints is the sanctions. 

Many believe that more needs to be done to persuade Putin to stop the war. 

The most effective thing would be to immediately stop all imports of Russian gas and oil to Europe. 

Then Russia would lose an important part of its income and find it difficult to finance the war for any length of time. 

Biden with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General. 

Biden with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP 

The United States has already introduced such a stop. 

But many EU countries are so dependent on, above all, Russian gas that their economies would risk collapsing if they were forced to do without it at short notice. Several EU leaders have pointed out the obvious fact that it is Russia's economy that will be crushed by the sanctions. Not our own. 

 Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo put it this way. 

- The basic rule must be that sanctions should have a much greater effect on Russia than on Europe. We can not wage war on ourselves. 

Fox scissors 

A good description of the fox shears many EU countries have. Now they have to pay the price because after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, they did not do more to get rid of their energy dependence on Russia. Germany instead increased its dependence by having the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline built, which has now been put in a mothballs. 

During the EU summit, Joe Biden and Ursula van der Leyen presented a "partnership on energy", which means that the US will already yesterday supply the EU with liquefied gas, so-called LNG. However, it only covers part of the loss if Europe were to stop buying Russian gas. In addition, terminals must be built where the gas can be stored. That kind of thing takes years. 

Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Johnson. 

Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Johnson. Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AP 

The EU has already said that it wants to sharply reduce its dependence on Russian gas by the turn of the year.  

The problem is that it is not possible to replace Russian gas in the short term. 

No matter how much you want. The green transition to wind and solar energy can be accelerated, but it still takes years rather than months. 

Although Germans, Italians, Dutch and other citizens are prepared to make sacrifices, it is doubtful whether they are willing to freeze or lose their jobs in order for Russia to end the war. 

Send peace strike 

The sanctions are not a guarantee that the war will end. History shows that many sanctions can be circumvented or mitigated. 

Take Putin's latest move to demand payment from the EU in rubles for oil and gas. It puts Europe in a difficult situation. Should one refuse and risk Putin turning off the gas? 

In other areas, too, different countries within the EU want to proceed differently. Poland wants to send fighter jets and see an EU peacekeeping force set up humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. Something the United States and Western Europe reject on the grounds that it increases the risk of a direct war between Russia and NATO.

In general, countries in old Eastern Europe, with the exception of Hungary, are the ones that are primarily pushing for tougher measures against Russia.  

The longer the war lasts, the harder the test will be.