French Politician Accuses Macron, Von Der Leyen of Adding to EU Energy Crisis

Western countries were hit by growing energy prices and a surge in inflation after they imposed packages of sanctions against Russia over its ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.

EU leaders have led Europe to decline while Russia's economy is booming, French politician Florian Philippot, head of the right-wing Les Patriotes party, said.

“The Russian budget surplus quadrupled in November, while our deficits are skyrocketing. We have stopped heating schools and hospitals, and we plan to use candles,” Philippot tweeted.

He also noted that European plants are gradually moving to the US due to more favorable economic conditions there. Paris earlier locked horns with Washington over the US’ Inflation Reduction Act, with President Emmanuel Macron, along with a number of European Union leaders, denouncing the legislation as anti-competitive and offering an unfair advantage to North American producers, and likely to rob Europeans of jobs in the energy and auto industry.

"Ursula, Macron and Le Maire are doing a great job!" Philippot concluded sarcastically, referring to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and the country’s Minister of Economy and Finance.

The comments came against a backdrop of rising living costs in France, where electricity bills have surged as a result of a cut in Russian natural gas supplies that added to the energy crisis across Europe.

On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the then-People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

The West responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Russia, with the EU pledging to end its dependence on Russian energy supplies. The bloc has already approved eight packages of sanctions against Moscow, including those aimed at gradually phasing out Russian oil and gas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored this past summer that the West suffers more from the same sanctions it pushed forward.

"We know that Europeans are trying to replace Russian energy resources, but the result of such actions is predictably an increase in gas prices in on-the-spot markets and an increase in the cost of energy resources for consumers, including households," Putin added.

He admitted that the sanctions prompted new challenges for Russian companies, but added that they “open up new opportunities” for developing the country’s economy and creating technological sovereignty, among other things.