They’ve started slowly slowly, but I will not be surprised when they start picking up fast. For it cannot be otherwise if Europe is going to cope with the cuts in the supply of gas that are being forecasted. Brakes will have to be applied to the consumption of energy products used to heat homes and offices, and to keep transports going.
In Germany for instance already a range of measures has been tabled and they have not been greeted with delight. Others that will surely follow will be liked even less. Meanwhile the price of the raw materials needed for the production of energy will be climbing despite the array of subsidies being prepared by governments. The crisis will affect all of Europe.
In the circumstances, political bumps will develop linked to European policies in response to Putin’s war. In countries like Czechia and Italy, chances will increase that the policies of support for the Ukraine and of sanctions against Russia will be contested. As of now, the probability is that the Europeans will prefer to apply (among otther measures) brakes on consumption, rather than soften their stand over the invasion of the Ukraine.
***
IN PAKISTAN
The flooding disaster that has hit practically half the territory of Pakistan is enormous. In addition to the many deaths (half of them children drowned), huge stretches of agricultural land and millions of homes have been destroeyd. A country which financially was already on the ropes has experienced such widespread destruction that its extent would have also impoverished it had it been in good shape. Meanwhile, the threat of a sanitary catastrophe remained a very real one.
Worse than the flooding and fires which swept through Europe and Australia, what has happened in Pakistan provides another warning as to how climate change has become a leading characteristic defining the life of humanity.
The urgency of a global, effective effort to reverse climate change, as among others UN general secretary Guterres has long been insisting, is totally justified.
***
YESTERDAY’S VICTORIES
Every generation creates its own reality from which it then gives birth to the myths and customs suited for it. Hoever as generations shift, they transmit stories about the past whose meaning changes slightly, sometimes a lot, to reflect the values and prejudices of the times.
We are told that Victory Day has been celebrated for centuries in this country to commemorate the triumph of the Order of Jerusamlem, Rhodes and Malta over an Ottoman army that invaded the islands. In the popular narrative of what happened, the Maltese alongside the Knights achieved victory.
But was it this accent placed on the courage of the Maltese which kept the commemoration alive and relevant for such a long period? Or was it the other emphasis on the “religious” aspect of the story, played as a struggle between two rival creeds?
This might explain why today the commemoration has lost its sparkle. I doubt how much the “modern” Maltese consider themselves to be a courageous people, prepared for martyrdom. And I doubt even more if they feel themselves affected by religious fervour.