Former Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache has warned of a looming shortage of raw materials in the EU due to the bloc’s sanctions against Russia.
Strache, who also served as leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), told Sputnik that “the sanctions has increased the foreign trade turnover of raw materials in Russia from $100 billion to $220 billion, while in Europe, prices for energy supplies, raw materials, electricity and food are rising significantly.”
“Inflation hits industry, businesses, citizens and households amid record level of bankruptcies and massive unemployment. More people are fighting poverty, and the economy can afford less production in the face of inevitable shortage of raw materials,” the ex-Austrian vice chancellor said.
He added that “many EU companies are no longer internationally competitive because production costs have skyrocketed and their products are becoming more expensive.”
The former FPO head insisted that Austria should follow the example of Hungary when it comes to purchasing energy resources. According to him, the government should first and foremost respect “the interests of their own people, who should not be plagued by unemployment and poverty.”
Strache was apparently referring to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, saying that earlier this week that during his telephone conversation with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak they agreed on the potential change of long-term Hungarian-Russian contracts for the purchase of gas due to the introduction of a possible price cap on Russian blue fuel.
Strache also warned that “demonstrations and street protests in Europe against the backdrop of the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions” would intensify because people do not want to live in poverty.
“People don’t want to be out of work, they don’t want to be cold as they watch arms deliveries instead of peace proposals,” he said, in an apparent nod to the Western countries providing Kiev with weapons amid the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
He added that “this is all a contradiction that is becoming more and more obvious to citizens of Europe.”
According to Strache, EU sanctions against Russia "clearly harm the Europeans themselves" and are being "rejected by an increasing number of citizens" of the EU states.
On Ukraine, Strache argued that the US and Europe don’t have peace initiatives to resolve the conflict, which can only be settled if a number of conditions are met.
He said that “Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to mediate” but unfortunately, some are interested in the continuation of the Ukraine conflict or want to benefit from it.
Strache claimed that there is a chance of reaching a peace treaty if "this proxy war in Ukraine is slowed down by background major players such as the US and its NATO allies in Europe," and also "if the supply of arms to Ukraine will be stopped." He urged all parties to the conflict to show a "readiness to look seriously for the way to negotiate."
The remarks come a few days after the EU foreign ministers failed to agree on a new package of the bloc’s anti-Russian sanctions, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying that work on the package will continue.
On November 11, an EU source told Sputnik that the bloc would introduce the ninth package of sanctions against Moscow significantly later than it initially planned due to "sanction fatigue" among member states and a limited amount of tools for applying pressure.
The Western countries moved to isolate Russia after it launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. They rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, with the EU pledging to end its dependence on Russian energy supplies. The bloc has already approved eight packages of sanctions against Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that the anti-Russian sanctions backfired more on those who had initiated them.