{"id":1441656,"date":"2022-04-16T13:45:10","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T17:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1441656"},"modified":"2022-04-16T13:45:25","modified_gmt":"2022-04-16T17:45:25","slug":"western-citizens-should-pay-more-to-help-germany-get-off-russian-gas-says-former-uk-army-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/western-citizens-should-pay-more-to-help-germany-get-off-russian-gas-says-former-uk-army-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Citizens Should Pay More to Help Germany Get off Russian Gas, Says Former UK Army Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwestern-citizens-should-pay-more-to-help-germany-get-off-russian-gas-says-former-uk-army-chief%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1441656&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-158263988-640x335-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The citizens of Western nations should accept a lower standard of living in order to help Germany break its addiction to Russian gas, the former head of the British army has said.<\/p>\n<p>Despite years of Germany failing to heed warnings from figures such as former President Donald Trump on its reliance on Russia for its energy needs while at the same time demanding protection from Putin by American military might, General Sir Nick Parker has called on the people of Western nations to help Germany by accepting a lower cost of living.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI think there is probably a need in all of our countries for people to re-prioritise. What has happened is a threat to us all and it\u2019s potentially a very significant threat.\u00a0And therefore, in order to overcome the threat, we\u2019re going to have to take some pain, but that pain needs to be very clearly explained to people so they understand the context,\u201d\u00a0the former British Army chief <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2022\/04\/15\/west-would-have-take-pain-cut-russian-oil-britains-former-army\/\">told<\/a> <em>The Telegraph<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>He said that the United Kingdom should\u00a0\u201cdivert our own energy resources to help Germany out,\u201d which Parker acknowledged would further increase the cost of living for the average British citizen at a time of soaring inflation and spiralling energy prices.<\/p>\n<p>Gen Sir Nick, who previously served as Britain\u2019s Commander Land Forces, argued that the cost of living crisis facing the UK and other countries should be rolled into the conversation of \u201cRussian aggression in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe need to bring those two things together and really consider whether we need to change or reorder our priorities in order to address the biggest threats that face us,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe may need to go to war. That requires a complete reordering of our national priorities, this would demand a very clear conversation with the public to explain why this is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Germany has reduced its dependence on Russian energy slightly since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union still sends around approximately<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/04\/07\/farage-eu-funding-putins-war-machine-as-bloc-admits-spending-e35bn-on-russian-gas-since-invasion\/\">\u00a0\u20ac1 billion (\u00a3828 million\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/04\/07\/farage-eu-funding-putins-war-machine-as-bloc-admits-spending-e35bn-on-russian-gas-since-invasion\/\">$1.09 billion)<\/a>\u00a0every day to Moscow in energy payments, according the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.<\/p>\n<p>At a press conference last week in London with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his government will attempt to cut off Russian oil imports entirely by the end of the year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/energy\/germany-could-end-russian-oil-imports-this-year-scholz-2022-04-08\/\">saying<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cWe are actively working to get independent from the import of [Russian] oil and we think that we will be able to make it during this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is less clear, however, how effective Germany will be in reducing its dependency on Russian natural gas, which still accounts for around 40 per cent of its imports.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Turn Down Thermostats to Fight the Ruskies, Europeans Told<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pWAJgoYqqC\">https:\/\/t.co\/pWAJgoYqqC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1499731383845019652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 4, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Germany has long been warned of the potential pitfalls of pursuing its radical green agenda while looking to Russia to meet its energy needs, thereby funding the supposed reason for the NATO alliance, which Germany has also consistently failed to meet its spending obligations to.<\/p>\n<p>Former President Donald Trump was a frequent critic of Germany\u2019s two-sided policies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2018\/07\/11\/trump-starts-nato-summit-on-front-foot-blasts-hypocritical-germany-as-captive-of-russians\/\">stating<\/a> in July of 2018:\u00a0\u201cIt is very sad when Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with Russia, where we\u2019re supposed to be guarding against Russia, and Germany goes and pays out billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia. We\u2019re protecting Germany, we\u2019re protecting France, we\u2019re protecting all of these countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump also noted that due to its reliance on Russian gas, Germany had become \u201ccaptive\u201d to Putin\u2019s regime. Indeed, Germany is currently facing a recession if it attempts to cut off Russian imports and has already seen some of the highest inflation in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile the citizens of Western nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States have been facing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/04\/13\/uk-inflation-hits-30-year-high-of-7-per-cent-as-fuel-costs-see-record-spikes\/\">decades-high levels of inflation<\/a>, as a result of massive spending sprees during the Chinese coronavirus lockdowns, sanctions on Russia, and the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>British and American taxpayer money has heavily subsidised the Ukrainian war effort, with both countries sending <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/04\/07\/britain-to-send-armoured-vehicles-to-ukraine-report\/\">billions in military vehicles and weapons<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, the former British Army chief argued that more is needed in order to \u201cdefeat Russia,\u201d despite neither country formally declaring war on Russia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to stop buying their oil and gas, so that those countries that are most dependent need support from those who get their supplies from elsewhere,\u201d Sir Gen Nick said, continuing: \u201cWe have to be prepared to intervene in the free market so that existing resources are allocated more \u2018fairly\u2019\u2026 If we consider the Russian action a long-term threat to world peace, we should be prepared to take this pain for the long-term benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Trump Vindicated: Germany to FINALLY Pay NATO Spending Requirements<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qvavqZm45k\">https:\/\/t.co\/qvavqZm45k<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1498312036178137094?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KurtZindulka\">@KurtZindulka<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The citizens of Western nations should accept a lower standard of living in order to help Germany break its addiction to Russian gas, the former head of the British army<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}