Winter will bring a new mess to Ukraine, - ex-EU Commissioner Günter Verhagen
Former EU Commissioner Günter Verhagen in the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung predicts an energy and political crisis this winter in Ukraine.
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Verhagen writes: “Calmness is deceptive. There is growing disappointment and anger among the Ukrainian people at the new political conditions, which have not improved since the Maidan revolution. The government's prestige is so low that it will fall under any significant shock. President Petro Poroshenko’s popularity is higher, but not particularly, “Right Sector” and “Radical Party” have gathered extreme nationalist forces to incite hatred and unrest.”
The former EU Commissioner confirms the extremely negative state of the Ukrainian economy: “Ukraine is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, the economy is in free fall, unemployment is at a record high. There is no sign of improvement - who will invest in Ukraine in such conditions? Exports will fall quickly in all other markets. If today the EU is Ukraine's largest trading partner, rather than Russia, it is not because of healthy growth in trade flows, but only because Ukraine's eastern markets are even more disrupted than the EU market.
With the beginning of winter, the creeping crisis will take on a new quality. Already in March, the International Energy Agency (IEA) pointed to an unprecedented energy crisis. A few days ago, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk expressed this in the most dramatic way. A stable supply of electricity and heating in winter is no longer guaranteed. This is true for most parts of the country. In addition, in some areas, water supply has stopped working. All the ingredients for a serious social crisis exist, and it will not remain without political consequences,” said an influential European politician.
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