But intense price pressures are sending huge shockwaves across Europe, with energy costs currently the biggest driver of inflation, up nearly 40% in a year. The Russian gas crisis has been a key factor, with supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline shrinking and price pressures seeing growth in the German economy – the EU’s largest – flatten in the second quarter of this year. There are growing fears that Vladimir Putin could launch a political war against the EU by completely cutting off natural gas to Europe in retaliation for crippling sanctions that have crushed Russia. Charles-Henri Gallois, President of the Generation Frexit campaign in France, warned: “Inflation, apart from today’s low interest rates and high public debt, is quite explosive. “The ECB has a huge dilemma. If he really wants to tackle inflation, he should stop quantitative easing and raise interest rates. “But in doing so, this will lead to a collapse of the eurozone as interest rates rise in southern Europe. “If they let inflation go, it will lead to massive strikes, social and economic problems like we are seeing right now in the Netherlands.” Mr Gallois warned that a dire recession in the Eurozone was now “obvious”, as he saw no easy way out for countries heavily dependent on Russian gas. READ MORE: Nigel Farage speaks at US rally in Texas to get rid of Nancy Pelosi The steady Frexiteer also attacked the underpinnings of the struggling euro, which last month fell to parity against the US dollar for the first time in more than 20 years. He warned that EU sanctions against Russia were “suicide for Europe” and warned that if this was not eased quickly, the continent could find itself in the “biggest economic crisis in its history”. Mr Gallois continued: “It was a mistake to save the euro. The euro is badly built from the start and sooner or later it will die. “So, I know it’s not a widely shared position in the UK, but I think sanctions against Russia are suicide for Europe. “Economic sanctions that hit you harder than Russia are completely stupid. “I am against the invasion of Ukraine, but we should stop the sanctions and focus on peace to avoid suicide in Europe. “If we don’t, Europe will face perhaps the biggest financial crisis in its history.” Last week’s latest jump in eurozone inflation is piling up pressure on Europe to react quickly to avert a massive economic disaster. Maartje Wijffelaars at Rabobank said the figures “are likely to cause even bigger headaches for consumers and the ECB”. He added: “Going forward, the path for inflation largely depends on what happens to Russian gas flows and thus energy prices, but in any case it is not expected to fall quickly.”
