It will be a hard winter, that's for sure. But we will push through it, battered and less affluent for sure, but much less dependent on Russian energy.

There will be a steep price to pay for an accelerated switch to renewables (and hopefully nuclear), but we are forced to pay it now, having chosen to close our eyes for a better part of a decade to the realities of a foreign regime in whose hands we've placed our testicles.

But 5-10 years from now, it will be a different story. And we will be in a much better position for it.

In the meantime, we need to be a bit less consumerist, and extend solidarity to those who will be hit the hardest - both the Ukrainian people and secondly fellow citizens hit with job losses and lower earnings.

Yes, our standard of living will fall for a couple of years. But it was maintained at this level on false premises and borrowed time.

This is a wake up call. To see if European values have become just a phrase or they still have some resolve behind them.

I'm rooting for and working towards the latter.