(Original title: Thousands of people took to the streets to protest against inflation and “suicide sanctions” against Russia in the Austrian capital)
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Financial Associated Press, September 11 (Publisher Zhao Hao)According to numerous foreign media reports, on Saturday (11 September) local time, protests erupted in Vienna, the capital of Austria, with thousands of people taking to the streets to oppose the rising cost of living.
Some have condemned the Austrian government for disappointing the people and calling for the lifting of “suicidal sanctions” against Russia, others have condemned the bellicose nature of NATO, which is pushing Europe towards unprecedented militarization. The Austrian newspaper Heute quoted local police as saying the number of people on the scene is expected to reach 3,000.
Coincidentally, similar protests broke out in Prague, the Czech capital, last Saturday (September 3). At that time, more than 7,000 Czechs poured into Wenceslas Square, believing that the Czech government had failed to resolve the energy crisis and should have resigned.
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western countries have increased sanctions against Russia, cutting off the supply of energy markets and driving up energy prices in Europe. After Russia recently announced the indefinite closure of the “North Stream-1” pipeline, the European energy crisis has further fermented.
Not only that, the Group of Seven (G7) also wants to set a price limit for Russian natural gas. The Russian side replied that it would not work in a non-competitive environment and Gazprom would completely stop its supply to EU countries.
European countries have long been heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas supplies. The recent sharp rise in energy prices has made the EU situation even more difficult.
The latest news shows that Bonomi, president of the Italian Industrialists Federation, has said that if Russia completely interrupts the supply of natural gas, Italy will have a natural gas gap of 4 billion cubic meters, and if this gap is fully applied to the industrial sector, then almost a fifth of Italian industrial production will cease.
Some in the industry fear that, in the worst case scenario, Italy could be forced to ration gas.
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