It’s a big day for the EU, says the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. All because three former Soviet states – Latvia, Lithuania, and her home country, Estonia, where she previously served as prime minister – have just swapped out their historically reliable Russian electricity entirely for a system regulated by the folks in Brussels, whose recent energy security strategies have included imploring citizens to dress in sweaters, like turtles, and to consider group showers.

“Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will permanently disconnect from Russia’s power grid tomorrow,” Kallas wrote on social media on February 7th. ”Russia can no longer use energy as a tool of blackmail. This is a victory for freedom and European unity.”

Yeah, Western Europeans are united, alright. On the fact that the EU has triggered an energy crisis that’s heavily contributed to voters across the bloc turning against establishment parties in recent national elections. The skyrocketing cost of living, largely attributed to a lack of affordable energy, was even cited by the EU’s own Eurobarometer report last year as a motivating factor for 42% of Europeans in last summer’s EU parliamentary elections. Those elections saw the arrival in Brussels of “more MEPs on the far-right benches than before,” Le Monde wrote, characterizing the rise of anti-establishment populism, notably on the right.

While loudly shunning cheap Russian energy, the EU has nonetheless been

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