Well, I just returned from a not-very-long walk home from my yoga class here in Budapest … and had to spend a good while defrosting myself in an as-hot-as-my-Soviet-studio-will allow-shower.
It is cold, cold, COLD here in Eastern Europe. We’ve been below zero for a good month, it seems (and I haven’t seen more than two sunny days since November), but I’m still not used to it. I used to whine about wind-whipped walks over the Key Bridge in the winter; this is something different. To illustrate said cold for those of you in warmer climes, try this example: the ends of my hair were a bit wet from said yoga class, so I piled my braids up into a big fuzzy hat, then made the 15-minute or so walk home … and when I got there, my hair actually had ice on it Yup. My HAIR FROZE. Brrrrrr.
Now, the cold alone is no big news for my side of Europe (there is a reason behind the American stereotype of the old Easter bloc as being filled with people in big boots and fur hats … it is colder here than many regions of the U.S.) What is a problem is the fact that most of Europe is now mired in this cold snap, and Russia has shut off the gas which flows through the Ukrainian pipelines due to a price dispute.
Hungary is faring fairly well: the country, while dependent on said Russian gas for about 40% of its supplies, can still get gas from elsewhere and has alternate sources of heat. My apartment, thankfully, is OK: my stove is electric, and we use radiators here, so I am fine. Most homes and small offices are warm here, too, although big businesses have been forced to stop use of gas. The one difference I noticed as I walked through town, however, was a distinct burning smell and a thick (well, thicker than usual, anyway) patina of smog. My Hungarian colleague, Nelly, says this is because the power plants are now burning more oil and coal to keep our lights on and houses as warm as possible.
Other Eastern European countries have it worse. As today’s New York Times reported, Bulgaria is particularly freezing. My good friend and fellow Fulbrighter, Carolyn, reports from her home in Sofia that while Bulgaria gets ALL of its natural gas from the Russian-Ukrainian pipeline, people are surprisingly calm about it. She is fortunately staying warm in her electric-heated apartment, but braved a pretty frigid meeting at a Sofia university today (Read her excellent commentary about the situation here, here and here).
Right now, the BBC and the NYTimes both report that Russia and the Ukraine have reached a deal. However, even if Russia truly has pulled the switch back on, so to speak, as the BBC notes, it could take up to three days for gas to reach all parts of Europe (like Hungary and Bulgaria).
While I’m cautiously optimistic that this is all solved and I won’t have to face a cold apartment or office, one thing kind of sticks in my throat: as Carolyn mentioned, many Eastern Europeans think “…it’s pretty lucky that non-Eastern block countries (aka France, Austria and Germany) have been impacted by the reduced gas flow from Russia to Ukraine or no solution would be on the horizon.” And I, unfortunately, have to agree with her. If the Western side wasn’t in trouble, it might not be priority number one on the EU list … and, I have to wonder, how much response America would have, too. How long would Bulgaria have to freeze? Would they wait until all of the old Eastern bloc was cold? And then how long?
It is not that I don’t realize that the big powers of the West have a lot to deal with right now. Yes, I understand that Israel vs. Gaza is a bigger political (and human) mess right now. But the West … and American in particularly … has had a very nasty tradition of ignoring abuses in areas which don’t immediately impact them financially and politically (and shutting off gas in the middle of winter is a human rights abuse in my book). Hungary is no big power player economically; winning the love of the Hungarians doesn’t carry the hugest strategic import for a U.S. president or politician. Some Americans, I am frustrated to report, actually still believe Hungary is in Russia (I’m not naming names here, but this was actually said to me before I left). One need only look at the staggering non-response of the U.S. and Western Europe to Hungary’s failed 1956 revolution: the West was on a Red Scare binge, but when a small country finally tried to shrug off said Communist rule, we were too busy protecting our interest in the Suez to bother with any aid (save the iconic Time cover … some consolation prize, eh?)
In any case, I hope that the EU together has fixed this. And I hope as we rapidly approach a new era in America (8 more days! only 8 more of Bush!), Eastern Europe’s concerns finally get a more fair hearing, and realize that foreign policy means more than what to do with Iraq. It’s a big world, with big troubles.
