The change in the geopolitical order, disrupted by the invasion of Ukraine, has exposed the weaknesses of the German economic model. The German model, points out Wolfgang Münchau in one of his analyses for Eurointelligence, hinges on three ingredients: cost competitiveness, technological leadership in its industry and geopolitical stability, and ‘all of them are gone,’ he adds. On the one hand, the cut-off of Russian gas — which accounted for more than 50% of the gas consumed in Germany — has impacted the electro-intensive industry, forcing businesses like the chemical company Lanxess to restructure their business and close plants.
Saying it like that, maybe lmao… But did they ever really denied it? When Snowden revealed Merkel was spied on by the US, who gave a fuck? Here they could at least try and say “we had no choice, the burger empire, being the economic rival and an LNG supplier that it is, convinced us to tank our gas imports. We never saw this coming and trusted them.”