TEHRAN - The European Union is facing a serious and urgent threat in terms of energy supply resulting from the Ukraine war. Since Russia has been an outstanding supplier of gas for Europe, finding a sustainable alternative seems to be really difficult.

Meanwhile the latest news from different countries in Europe reveals a very hard time with coming freezing weather. 

The US-EU relationship has become interesting in this very context. Kevin Barret, an American political commentator, believes that the current situation is a rare chance for Europe to prove its abilities and decide to be less dependent on US. 

Following is Tehran Times interview with Kevin Barret, writer of precious books including "Imperial Crisis":

Q: How has the Ukraine war caused energy crisis in Europe?

A: The US provoked the Ukraine war in order to force Europe to obey American sanctions against Russia and stop buying cheap Russian natural gas. Thanks to the war and ensuing sanctions, the US can now sell Europe vast quantities of liquid gas at exorbitant prices. Europe's economy has been crippled, and immense wealth transferred from Europe to the US, allowing the US to maintain its position of dominance over the EU.

Since the EU's population is 450 million while the is only 330 million, and the respective economies are of comparable size, the EU is theoretically in a position to break free from the US and assert itself as an equal or greater superpower on the world stage.  Ensuring control over Europe is a prime strategic imperative for the US. Since the EUs population is 450 million while the US population is only 330 million, and the respective economies are of comparable size, the EU is theoretically in a position to break free from the US and assert itself as an equal or greater superpower on the world stage. A truly independent Europe would choose to make win-win trade deals with Russia, China, and the rest of Eurasia, sidelining the US and ending American imperial domination of the planet.

The US doesn't want that to happen. So, it uses a divide-and-conquer strategy to ensure that Europe never achieves the cohesion and economic might that would allow it to free itself of the US occupation that has continued since World War II under the euphemism NATO. The threat of a potentially free and sovereign Europe, and not the alleged dangers posed by Russia, is the real reason for the war in Ukraine which is a US war of aggression against Germany and the EU first and foremost, and only secondarily a war of aggression against Russia.

Q: Has the shortage of energy resulted in inflation and affecting vital products in Europe?

A: Germany’s inflation rate hit double-digits in October, the first time that happened since 1990. Italy is seeing its highest inflation in 40 years. The rest of the Eurozone is also suffering. The source of all this inflation is the higher energy prices caused by US sanctions on Russia. Businesses that produce goods and services have to pay more for energy, and they pass the cost to consumers. As I mentioned in my answer to the previous question, much of the extra money being paid for the now super-expensive energy is going straight into the coffers of the US. That's the main reason why the Euro is crashing vis-a-vis the dollar. Also, the dollar has historically been strong in times of panic or uncertainty, and the US has a habit of deliberately provoking panic and uncertainty by orchestrating wars and crises, most recently the war on Germany and Russia through Ukraine.

Q: How can the EU manage to tackle the issue? Are European governments providing support to ordinary people?

A: EU countries have generous welfare states, at least compared to the US and many other countries. The Europeans subsidize transportation and other infrastructure, offer free medical care and lavish unemployment benefits, and generally keep poverty and hardship to a minimum. That said, those European welfare states are going to be challenged this winter as the energy supply dwindles to the point that it may no longer be able to meet demand. Already factories and small businesses are shutting down.

European governments may find it difficult to keep their people warm and fed. This is likely to provoke popular uprisings, including protests demanding that the EU drop the sanctions on Russia that are causing the hardship. We are already seeing such protests in several European countries. Prague has seen anti-sanction protests of more than 70,000 people. Nuclear reactor workers are on strike in France. In Britain, hundreds of thousands of nurses, postal workers, and others have been striking. Tens of thousands have been protesting energy prices in Brussels. Such protests will probably intensify during the coming cold, dark winter.

Q: Is there any relationship between the economic-financial crisis and France vs. Italy’s divorce from the EU?

The EU is not an ally of the US, but a coalition of vassal states that have been under US military and economic occupation since the end of World War II.
A: Italy's populist leaders in the new government headed by Giorgia Meloni have been cheering on the French Yellow Vest protestors. Outraged, French president Macron retaliated by calling populism a kind of leprosy. The Meloni-Macron divorce symbolizes the clash between Macrons Rothschild-centered neoliberal banking elites who currently run Europe alongside their US national security state friends, versus the new wave of nationalist populism represented by Meloni, Marine Le Pen, and the Alternative for Germany Party. These populists are Euroskeptics who have traditionally been focused on cracking down on immigration. But as the winter of 2022-2023 brings economic hardship if not outright catastrophe to Europe, the populists may start calling for dropping the sanctions on Russia. Berlusconi, an important power behind Melonis coalition, seems already on board with that program, and other European populists will presumably follow.

Q: What role does America play in supporting its old allies? Have these steps been effective?

A: The EU is not an ally of the US, but a coalition of vassal states that have been under US military and economic occupation since the end of World War II. The US committed a holocaust against Germany during and immediately after that war, firebombing whole cities full of civilians and starving millions of German POWs and civilians to death during the first few years of the occupation. The US traumatized and propagandized the German people so severely that they essentially became brainwashed, self-hating zombie slaves. Global media and academia, owned by the Americans and Zionists, fabricated a mythical victor's history of World War II that essentially turned reality on its head and portrayed the US as the generous rebuilder of Germany by way of the Marshall Plan. But the reality is that the Marshall Plan was only implemented after the Morganthau plan to murder millions of Germans had done its bloody work.

Far from being a generous ally, the US is and has always been a self-interested occupier of Europe. The current US-instigated destruction of Europe, hinging on depriving EU nations of cheap energy in order to cripple them economically and subordinate them politically, might be called the New Morganthau Plan.

That said, the US may have to grant generous aid packages or loans to help keep the EU from starving and freezing this winter. If it does, the motivation will not be altruistic. Instead, the US will be seeking to stop the European people from rising up to overthrow US occupation and seize control of their own destiny.