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Starvation on Course To Eventually Be the Number One Cause of Death in Europe

Commentary

An onslaught of multiple sanctions placed on Russia by the United States and the European Union due to the Eastern Europe conflict has harmed the Europeans to unprecedented levels not yet seen in modern history. 

The irony is that Moscow’s currency is on the upswing, enjoying low energy rates and the lowest unemployment since 1992. And yet, Europeans are suffering — like the United States — with record high inflation and outrageous energy costs. And it is about to get a lot worse. 

With Russia having already brought their energy exports to Europe until they lift their sanctions, Europeans are bracing themselves for what looks like a long, cold winter. To add insult to injury here, Europeans also face a food shortage crisis that most have never had to endure. 

According to data from the industry association – Fertilizers Europe, Russia and Belarus had been providing roughly 60% of the EU’s fertilizer. Still, sanctions introduced in March on imports of potash from Belarus and the interruptions on trade with Russia have placed significant pressure on fertilizer supplies.

Farmer organizations are unhappy and frustrated with the sanctions led by the EU. Due to the increase in gas and oil prices used to power machinery used for farming, the cost of farming inputs has gone through the roof. The same machinery is also used during the harvesting season, but again, the rising costs of energy rates have led to an enormous increase in input costs. Fertilizer prices need to be contained to keep the overall prices within acceptable limits, which isn’t possible. And, of course, Europeans cannot produce their fertilizer because of the cost of gas. 

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If European farmers are forced to grow their produce using local fertilizers, there is the possibility that consumers wouldn’t buy because the cost would be way too expensive. The European Commission has proposed to suspend tariffs on some inputs from Russia that are used for producing nitrogen fertilizers like urea and ammonia until the end of 2024. Still, the member states of the EU have not approved the proposal, frustrating EU farmers.

Looming on the horizon is also the possibility of a revolt against the EU farming commission, which might force the EU governments to again depend on imports from Russia. 

Essentially, the EU’s food supply is now in Putin’s control, and we all know how foreign dependency has fared for countries like Venezuela, which had been in the grip of an intense food crisis that was the result of the country’s former governments relying on food imports from other nations. In the late 1990s, Venezuela was a thriving and prosperous nation with the world’s largest oil reserve. Their economy was supercharged by petrodollars, and Venezuelans lived high on the hog. Then came the crash of 2008. Venezuela was wholly unprepared, and the government nationalized 70 of its major oil producers, resulting in a lack of maintenance of the machinery that powered the oil refineries. An overall lack of motivation amongst employees as their salaries plummeted and their standard of living fell to subpar standards. Hyperinflation turned Venezuela into hell on earth. In 2017, President Maduro famously told his people that rabbits were a rich source of food and even started a rabbit pilot program. After Maduro gave rabbits to 15 communities to start up the pilot program, most people decided to keep the animals as pets, even placing bows on their little heads. 

Europeans — and, to an extent, Americans — are on the same dangerous path and refuse to heed all the warning signs of what’s to come. The continued crisis in Eastern Europe is pushing toward a perilous era of hyperinflation and recession. The supply chains are stretched to the limit, and food reserves are close to running dry and empty. Europe is fast becoming the next Venezuela, and the EU Governments either fail to see the urgency here or don’t care. And the United States is dangerously close behind.