Germany has announced a €65bn (£56.2bn) package of measures to ease the threat of rising energy costs, as Europe struggles with scarce supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The package, much bigger than two previous ones, will include one-off payments to the most vulnerable and tax breaks to energy-intensive businesses.
Energy prices have soared since the February invasion, and Europe is trying to wean itself off Russian energy.
Ukraine has urged Europe to stand firm.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was trying to destroy the normal life of every European citizen. In his nightly address on Saturday, he said Russia was preparing a “decisive energy attack on all Europeans”, and only unity among European countries would offer protection.
And in a BBC interview broadcast on Sunday, his wife Olena said that if support for Ukraine was strong the crisis would be shorter. She reminded Britons that while rising living costs were tough, Ukrainians were paying with their lives.
According to website Politico, European Union officials have warned there is likely to be a crunch point in the coming months when countries start to feel acute economic pain while also still being asked to help the Ukrainian military and humanitarian effort.
There are already small signs of discontent, with protesters taking to the streets of the Czech capital Prague on Sunday, rallying against high energy prices and calling for an end to sanctions against Russia. Police said about 70,000 people, mainly from far-right and far-left groups were in attendance.
Meanwhile, several hundred protesters gathered at Lubmin in north-eastern Germany, the terminal of the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia.
They were calling for the commissioning of Nord Stream 2, a new pipeline which was about to go online but was blocked by the German government after the invasion.
