By Jiří Hroník
(Opinion) Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany has decided to create an economic and stabilization fund in the amount of 200 billion euros to protect the country’s economy during the energy crisis.
The country’s Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), which was set up during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, will manage and distribute the state aid, reported Xinhua news agency.
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By relaunching the fund, Germany is also responding to the changed gas supply situation with Russia after leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines led to an interruption in the flow of gas for an indefinite period.
For other member states of the European Union, this signals that Germany for the first time since the creation of the EU is not interested in the principle of whether they will also have such an amount of money for support.
“This is one of the most decisive steps towards the disintegration of the European Union since its founding,” macroeconomist Jaroslav Schulz said in an interview with the Czech ‘Parlamentní listy’ outlet.
However, he believes that his country can still jump on the bandwagon of this overheated wagon, rushing through the frosts.
For the Czech side, in his opinion, this would be a diplomatic and economic achievement.
According to Schulz, the German economy and its capabilities are completely incomparable with the economy of any other European state.
And everyone knows that no other country in the EU except Germany is capable of emerging stronger from its apparent weakness.
In other words, the Germans are now signaling to other EU states that “Germany comes first,” that is, that it will only strengthen its hegemony in Europe during the current energy crisis.
All the others will no longer be able to compete with the Germans in most industries because they cannot afford the same high level of investment.
“It is sad to say this, but we see one of the most decisive steps toward the disintegration of the European Union since its founding,” says Schulz.
“Not only Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban reacted sharply to this intention, but also Spanish, Italian, and French politicians who cried out for solidarity.
Do the Germans deliberately not care about what the others need?
“Sure, business has nothing to do with friendship. Business is aimed at profit. At a time when the rest of Europe falls to its knees, the German economy will be able to grow at the expense of those losers who do not have such resources. It’s that simple,” says Schulz.
The only question is, to what extent will the Americans allow this German hegemony in Europe to be strengthened?
Nobody has an answer to that question.
So far, they are trying to corner the Germans, and the Nord Stream explosions confirm that, adds Schulz.
However, according to Schulz, the Germans seem to be able to escape this mess.
The question is whether the Americans will allow them to gain air.
Schulz says, the Americans are determined to subjugate the whole of Europe, maybe, except Great Britain, with which the United States has certain old ties.
“But I very much doubt that they will allow Germany to escape from this clamp. I do not sit on the governing boards of those large American corporations that set the tone for the European game. However, some things can be guessed at, and what I’m saying is one possible option.”