Austria stops Russian gas deliveries and thus fuels inflation – Le Courrier des Stratèges

By Ulrike Reisner- Journal of the Habsburg Empire: Everything happened in a flash, in 24 hours…on Friday the Austrian energy supplier OMV stopped its payments to Gazprom, on Saturday the Russians quickly responded with a stopping deliveries. As we have already reported recently, this scenario was knowingly provoked in Vienna in order to be able to prematurely withdraw from the delivery contract which runs until 2040. The Austrian Chancellor's position exposes the treacherous game between Brussels and Vienna. Castling is to the detriment of the Austrian economy and private households. The latter must now expect an increase of 20% or more in energy prices. A hard blow for the country, whose economy is in recession for the second year in a row.

When Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer appeared before the press on Friday, great nervousness could be seen on his face. His position on stopping gas deliveries from Russia can be described as fatalistic at best. Nehammer stammered that “ Russia, via Gazprom, allegedly exerted pressure on Austria due to sanctions “. Austria would not allow itself brought to his knees by Putin » and would continue to rely on “ an honest and orderly policy “. When asked about this, the Chancellor was quick to assure that there would be no price rise in Austria. The gas tanks would be filled, Austria's gas consumption would be irrelevant for the formation of energy prices.