The End of the European Free Lunch – Dawn of European Union

For decades, Western Europeans enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world. But this prosperity was not entirely self-made. It rested on two crucial, often unspoken pillars:

1. Cheap Russian energy – natural gas and oil delivered at below-market prices via pipelines.

2. Small military investments – with the notable exceptions of France and the UK, most EU countries spent minimally on their own defense, effectively free-riding on the American security umbrella.

The money saved on energy and defense was redirected inward: better social benefits, longer vacations, generous pensions, and massive infrastructure spending. It was a good deal while it lasted.

But everything has a price. And the price was loss of independence. The EU became highly dependent on Russian energy (which made it vulnerable to Moscow’s whims) and on the U.S. Army (which made it a junior partner in global affairs, not an independent power).

Now the situation is simply returning to normal. Not to a crisis, but to a more justifiable state of affairs. Living on your own expense, not on the expense of others, is painful after decades of subsidy. But it is not unfair.

The Green Transition: Stupidity or Mega-Corruption?

What makes this situation far worse than it needed to be is not the end of cheap Russian gas or the need to rearm. It is what Europeans did with the money they saved. Instead of investing in future business, productivity, or energy independence, they poured trillions of euros into the so-called “green transition.”

Let us be honest: much of this was not environmentalism. It was either stupidity or state-level mega-corruption. Vast sums were funneled into ineffective green projects (wind and solar that require backup fossil plants), “equality” initiatives, and bureaucratic climate funds. Somebody got hugely rich on these contracts – but the average European saw no positive effect on their economy or purchasing power.

The most astonishing example is Germany.

• Germany closed all its nuclear power plants after Fukushima, driven by anti-nuclear hysteria.

• It also shut down or reduced coal plants (though later had to reopen some).

• As a result, Germany now suffers from much higher electricity prices and much higher air pollution than France.

And what did France do? It preserved its nuclear plants. French electricity is cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable. So the question is unavoidable: Was Germany’s decision stupidity? Or was it corruption disguised as environmentalism? Either way, ordinary Germans and their industries are now paying the price.

Immigration: Another Trillion Down the Drain

Beyond energy and defense, left-leaning governments across the EU spent hundreds of billions – indeed trillions of euros – on supporting non-European immigration. This money went to housing, welfare, language courses, legal aid, and direct cash payments for millions of people.

The brutal but necessary truth: a significant portion of these immigrants will never work productively in a modern European economy. They will not pay net taxes. Many will become lifetime welfare recipients – “welfare eaters,” as you put it – sustained by the labor of native Europeans. This is not racism; it is arithmetic. Every euro spent on supporting people who do not contribute is a euro not spent on schools, roads, hospitals, or pensions for those who built this continent.

So Who Is to Blame?

Not the war in Ukraine. Not even Russia, entirely. The invasion of Ukraine merely accelerated a process that was already inevitable. It exposed the vulnerabilities that Europeans had ignored for decades.

Europeans cannot blame anyone but themselves and their own political elites. They chose cheap Russian gas over energy independence. They chose American security over their own military. They chose the green fantasy over nuclear reality. They chose open borders and welfare for non-contributors over sustainable demographics.

The situation is not a tragedy. It is merely becoming more justifiable – more fair. Living on your own resources is harder than living on subsidies from others. But it is the adult way to live. The European free lunch is over. Now comes the bill.