How the Russia-Ukraine War affects Europe’s Energy Crisis

The Russia-Ukraine War has demonstrated just how interconnected the world is, especially in times of conflict. The invasion has prompted neighboring European countries, such as Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia, to take in as many as one million Ukrainian refugees, and there are numerous transnational humanitarian organizations seeking donations from all around the world, some raising up to $12.3 million. But an area in which the effects of the war are less explicit (but just as interconnected) has been the European Energy Crisis. Because of Putin’s decisions to limit energy exports to many nations, the consequences of the European Energy Crisis have expanded and redefined the way in which Europe approaches energy efforts. 

The energy crisis started long before the pandemic but over the past few months, the world has seen its short-term effects of it politically, socially, but arguably most importantly, economically. The demand for natural gas in Europe has skyrocketed over recent years, and by the end of 2021, the European natural gas shortage took a turn for the worst. Due to the EU’s plan to pursue sustainable energy sources, historically big natural gas producers, such as The Netherlands, have started limiting their gas production. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only exacerbated the burdens of European citizens in terms of energy prices and the ways that Europe gets energy.   

Russia is a huge player in the energy market with European nations being stakeholders in the issue. The nation’s fossil fuels account for 14 percent of the nation’s economic output. European countries are especially dependent on the oil and gas they provide specifically, the European Union which imports roughly 43 percent of natural gas from Russia, making them heavily dependent on the superpower and the availability of its markets. Other non-member nations also depend heavily on the energy giant, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose only source of natural gas in 2019 was Russia. But even countries such as the UK import less than 5% of gas from Russia, and are dealing with the effects of higher prices. This goes to show that the conflict has touched nations previously unaffected or deeply involved with Russian energy.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the result of long-standing territorial and political issues between the two countries. For years, Russia has stated that they do not want Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). President Vladamir Putin sees the military alliance as a threat to his influence. One of the main provisions of NATO is detailed in Article 5 — the responsibility to protect and defend allied nations. If Ukraine were to join, many powerful countries, including the United States, would be forced to defend Ukraine militarily in the event of a war (like the current one). The conflict has forced Europe to expand its ways of getting oil and natural gas. The Nord Stream 2, a relatively new pipeline taking gas from Russia to Germany, has been halted due to tension in the area. Many countries have vehemently opposed the pipeline, including Ukraine, with President Zelensky saying it is "a dangerous political weapon". 

As of right now, the fate of the European Energy Crisis relies on two things: the de-escalation of the Russia-Ukraine War and the ability of Europe to find new ways to provide energy to citizens. Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been vocal about sitting down and negotiating with Putin, it does not seem as though Putin is interested in making concessions. Recently, the EU has put forth a plan, “REPowerEU,” to become less dependent on Russian energy. The plan includes receiving more energy from already established suppliers such as Azerbaijan, and for European countries to increase their energy reserves. While this plan may seem environmentally harmful in the short term, it allows for more intentional discussions and ideas about energy for the continent. This conflict has shown just how reliant on Russia Europe has been and forced the region into coming up with more sustainable, long-term solutions. 

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