Bible In The News

This is The Bible in the News, and this is Paul Billington commenting on it again this week—the first edition in 2006. Well, it has been a very eventful week since we last talked, and the stand-off between Russia and the Ukraine over gas supply has been dominating the international news. As Russia turned off some of its taps, all Western Europe realized their dependence upon Russia for the supply of energy. It became clear just how vulnerable the whole of Europe has become to Russia’s whim. The fact is that as things stand, Russia is in a position to virtually strangle Europe into submission to her will, through energy supply. The outcry from Europe earlier this week may have resulted in Russia restoring supplies—but the point has been well made—and it won’t be lost on European leaders, though just what they can do about it is an open question.