Recently, Europe has become more and more embarrassed in the energy dilemma. Sanctions against Russia have led to a sharp increase in energy costs, which has seriously impacted European production and life; It is difficult to get rid of dependence on Russian energy, and it is difficult to achieve it in the short term. Constantly forced cuts, Europe is caught in an "embarrassing period" of energy shortage, high inflation and no solution.

At present, about 45% of natural gas, 30% of oil and 50% of coal imported by the EU come from Russia. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, international energy prices soared. This is tantamount to adding insult to injury to Europe, which has just experienced the "energy winter". Immediately, the United States wooed its allies to impose extreme sanctions on Russia, and Europe reduced its imports of Russian coal, oil and natural gas, and planned to promote the ban on Russian coal and oil. Extreme sanctions against Russia have aggravated the shortage of energy supply in Europe, leading to the continued high energy prices in Europe. The prices of thermal coal, crude oil futures and natural gas futures soared year-on-year, and the electricity prices of many European countries also climbed to the high point of the year.

High energy prices have made European people and enterprises miserable, and embarrassing economic data have highlighted Europe's "embarrassment". According to Eurostat data, the euro zone economy grew by only 0.2% in the first quarter of this year, and the inflation rate reached 7.5% in April, a record high for six consecutive months. Rising energy prices push up inflation, the supply chain of industrial chain is increasingly blocked, and consumer confidence and economic expectations are declining, which intensifies the stagflation trend and the difficulty of recovery in Europe.

The energy crisis made Europe miserable. For decades, Europe has been accustomed to the transportation of Russian natural gas from east to west, but in the near future, it can only detour to find alternative suppliers. When liquefied natural gas was transported to the western ports, Europe found that it was unable to build inland transportation infrastructure in a short time, which led to the difference in gas prices between coastal and inland countries by several times. A few days ago, the European Commission introduced energy reform measures and planned to spend 210 billion euros to reduce the EU's dependence on Russia to zero by 2027. However, under the background of weak economy, whether this huge investment can be implemented is facing great uncertainty. At present, EU member states have explicitly opposed the energy ban on Russia.

Europe is now in a dilemma on the energy issue. The situation is grim, internal differences are intensifying, and the economy is bearing a high price.