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Comment by maccard | Hacker News Reader

> Nor do I understand how Europe still buys gas from Russia

Because the alternative isn't buying gas from somewhere else, it's not buying the gas. This turns a foreign war into a major major domestic issue.

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Can’t they just increase their imports from the US?

They can and they already do, LNG from the US is flowing in. But swapping dependence on Russia for dependence on the US isn’t the clearcut win people imagine. Washington is in the middle of its own trade war, and Europe is one of the targets. Pax Americana is over, and Europe is treated less as an ally than as a vassal. The US openly exploits Europe’s fear of Russia, turning a legitimate threat into a lever for domination. What Europe gets is dependency and vulnerability, while the US extracts obedience and profit.

The irony is that the US slaps higher tariffs on most European countries than it does on Russia itself. As the old saying goes, "it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal".

Are you sure that is accurate? My research found that since the invasion, Russia’s MFN was revoked and Column 2 rates + import bans make US barriers on Russian goods much higher overall than on EU goods.

1. https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/930201/download

2. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ110

3. https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summ...

4. https://media.bis.gov//about-bis/bis-leadership-and-offices/...

5. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/15/2022-05...

6. https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/1024

7. https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-fact...

8. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-...

As I understand it the issue with that was not enough terminal capacity and storage, but they've been working on that[1].

[1]: https://valvesector.com/lng-ships-and-storage-wars-how-europ...

I'd be curious to hear what Europeans actually think of it on the ground. Is it not a major domestic issue that your governments are funding a genocidal regime? Do people just kinda pretend it's not happening b/c it's inconvenient to talk about? Just kinda blush, say sorry, and carry on?

I don't really understand the psychology of it. Are people for instance actively trying to use less gas in their personal lives?

edited, not feeding the troll

Look at the name, he is likely trolling people.

you're right

Most Europeans see it like watching someone drown, they want to help, but not at the cost of drowning themselves in the process.

I mean, the compassion ends when your bills increase twofold - it's that simple.

I don’t speak for others, probably a minority opinion. I vividly remember the protests against the switch to Russian oil and against the pipeline. There’s a saying here: if you burn your ass you sit on the blisters.

In Czech Republic upgraded our infra and stopped using Russian gas and oil.

Might have something to do with Russia orchestrated terrorist attack agains Czech munition warehouses that killed two people in 2014[0].

Or the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968[1] - just because the local communist leaders happened to be a bit too much enlightened for their tastes.

Just a few days ago I went past memorial plague for the girl killed in protests against the Soviet invasion in 1969[2][3] - forever 18 years old...

There were lots of flowers, people still remember.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Vrb%C4%9Btice_ammunitio...

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact_invasion_of_Czec...

[2] https://cs.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danu%C5%A1e_Muzik%C3%A1%C5%9...

[3] https://encyklopedie.brna.cz/home-mmb/?acc=profil-osobnosti&...

I see different degrees of genocide and support.

I am generally against arms deliveries, especially to Israel and Russia.

Sanctions should above all be effective. Russia is difficult to sanction especially if China and India do not play along.

The energy sanctions hurt Germany more than Russia, so I don't support them.

Specifically, I heat with gas in winter and try to reduce my consumption.

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