Editor's note: Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs who writes regularly for CGTN, Xinhua, and Global Times. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, Europe has closely followed the footsteps of the U.S., from condemnation on the military operations to sanctions on Russia. Three months into the conflict, Europe has been paying a heavy price - the whole continent is being dragged into a state of political, economic and social turbulence that is increasingly beyond its control.

Anti-Russian sentiments have become "political correctness" among those in the West. European countries, including those historically neutral, have shown little hesitation in imposing unilateral and full sanctions on Russia. They have chosen to decouple from everything that is Russian, despite their heavy reliance on its oil (26 percent) and natural gas (40 percent). For Germany, that ratio is as high as 35 percent and 55 percent respectively. CitiBank estimates that Europe will have to pay $1.2 trillion for energy in 2022, far more than the $300 billion cost last year.

Europe now faces severe supply chain disruptions as well as steep price hikes, as a result of its political fanaticism in rolling out sanctions and embargoes against Russian exports.  According to Eurostat, the consumer price index in the euro area rose by 7.4 percent in March year-on-year, with energy and food prices rising 44.4 percent and 7.8 percent respectively.

Europeans have vented their complaints and anger on social media. Some experts warned that if the European economic situation continues to deteriorate, the ordinary family hosting Ukrainian refugees will find the cost unbearable, and more Ukrainian refugees are likely to be displaced again.

Some European officials have hailed less energy and food consumption as a "noble cause", and encouraged "suffering for freedom" and "eating less meat for the sake of resisting authoritarianism." Peter Hauk, the Minister of Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection of Baden-Württemberg, openly suggested that Germans could wear sweaters indoors in winter. It is a big irony that the elected politicians are now asking their voters to suffer starvation and the cold.

The U.S. is a huge energy producer and the biggest grain exporter of the world, and its eyes are on the wallet of its European allies as they suffer from shortage of fuel and food. The U.S. bought a large amount of Russian crude oil on the eve of launching its ban on Russian oil. According to Mikhail Popov, Deputy Secretary of Russian Security Council, the U.S. import of crude oil from Russia had increased by 43 percent, or 100,000 barrels per day in late March. With its oil trade with Russia cut off, Europe has remained the top importer of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) for four consecutive months, taking about 65 percent of its exports.

With Finland and Sweden moving towards NATO and its rising dependence on U.S. security guarantee, Europe is at risk of losing its pursuit for strategic autonomy. Europe, the "blue blood" of the international community, is up a gum tree, being neither able to tackle all the difficult problems, nor willing to abandon the policies leading to its current predicament. Such a dilemma could have been avoided if Europe had insisted in making decisions on its own from the very start and working towards peace, prosperity and mutual respect among countries in Eurasia.

Some in Europe have come to realize that the integration process over the past half a century has not changed its strategic reliance on the U.S., which never hesitates to push Europe into the fire pit to serve its own political agenda.

Now it's time for Europe to make practical strategies and policies based on its own interests, and to better justify its status as a major player in global affairs. Otherwise, it could be reduced to a chessboard for American geopolitical games.

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