Energy crisis, European Union threatened by darkness

OTHER – European Union (EU) has little chance of stopping blackout in the middle energy crisis exacerbated by the Ukrainian conflict and must prepare for its effects.

This was the alarm raised by Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner on Tuesday (12/27/2022).

Speaking to Die Welt, the Austrian minister rated the possibility of power outages in parts of the EU very highly in the near future.

“The risk of widespread power outages has once again increased significantly as a result of the war in Ukraine,” he said.

“The question is not if it will happen, but when,” the minister said Russia TodayWednesday (27/12/2022).

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Tanner also claimed, without providing evidence, that Russian President Vladimir Putin viewed hacking attacks on Western energy networks as a form of “hybrid warfare.”

“We don’t have to pretend this is just a theory. We have to be prepared for blackouts in Austria and Europe,” she said.

According to Tanner, the Austrian military and other government services regularly conduct relevant exercises. They have also raised awareness through a campaign to distribute leaflets in public places on what to do in the event of a power outage.

When asked whether such an action could trigger panic, the minister rejected this hypothesis.