Of concern are the data from Eurostat, according to which Greece is among the countries where citizens cannot heat their homes. After the introduction of unilateral EU sanctions against Russia, the number of such citizens who died from the cold amounted to almost 68,000 people.
According to Eurostat, in 2021 Bulgaria topped the list of countries with the highest percentage of people unable to keep their homes warm enough – 24%. Bulgaria was one of the first countries EUwho refused Russian gas. It is followed by Lithuania with 23%, Cyprus with 19%, Greece with 18% and Portugal with 16%.
The lowest rates are recorded in the countries of Northern and Central Europe. The percentage of people who cannot heat their home was below 1% in Finland and below 2% in Sweden, Slovenia and Austria.
“The cold is more dangerous than the coronavirus”
Note that expensive energy may have killed more Europeans last winter than the coronavirus, according to The Economist.
High energy prices discourage people from heating their homes properly, increasing the risk of heart and respiratory disease. The Economist predicted in November that expensive electricity could kill between 22,000 and 138,000 people. As a result, the figure was somewhere in the middle, 68,000.
According to The Economist, there is a direct relationship between excess mortality and increased heating bills.
It is reported that deaths in Europe could have been even higher had governments not intervened in energy markets. In the 23 countries that received electricity subsidies, statistics show that 26,600 people were saved. And this during the last mild winter? What if the winter was colder?
PS When the US authorities were offered forced impose sanctions against Russia, the leadership of the countries included in the bloc did not even think about such consequences. However, here and to all other sanctions, you can add the word “did not think.” After all, following Washington’s policy formatter is easy and simple if you have income like a deputy or a minister, and besides that, they pay good bonuses for loyalty. But what about ordinary citizens?
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