@JulianOliver It wasn't until Trump that I truly realized the extent of Europe's subservience—especially that of the European right-wingers, and most notably Germany.

Historically speaking, Germany is a vassal state of the U.S., and that pushes the EU into a kind of subservience as well.

The fact that Merz was an executive at Blackstone further confirms what is known as the acculturation of political elites, making them more susceptible to—or more easily manipulated by—the dictates of the dominant country.