[Goose]

Exhibit a was Gerhart Schroeder.  It’s sad because his lobbying actually hurt GermNy.  It’s crazy to see that after the 2014 invasion of Crimea and the Donbass, instead of seeing it as a warning sign and starting the decoupling process, Germany doubled down and the share of Russian gas in its energy  mix actually went up.

BC

I think it is only fair to point out that Merkel was Chancellor form 2005 through 2021, and that she was CDU. She also held a pretty secure parliamentary majority during most of that time. There are plenty of targets for blame IMO. Merkel may have the somewhat rare experience of being considered a "good" Chancellor while in power and actually be somewhat (justly I think) vilified in history. Many of the things she did, particularly her handling of the refugee crisis and the German military/defense posture are not looking very good in retrospect. The continuation of Ostpolitik, which was never a CSU/CDU espoused policy, is certainly now come back to bite them. Who knew? Lots of people in her own party knew. It didn't matter. She was popular and the low energy cost made Germany's exports cheaper than they would have been otherwise. That, coupled with a Euro that was much weaker than the DM would have been because of the weaker economies in Europe served Germany well. However, it may not have been Kostenlos.

[Goose]

Exhibit a was Gerhart Schroeder.  It’s sad because his lobbying actually hurt GermNy.  It’s crazy to see that after the 2014 invasion of Crimea and the Donbass, instead of seeing it as a warning sign and starting the decoupling process, Germany doubled down and the share of Russian gas in its energy  mix actually went up.

BC

I think it is only fair to point out that Merkel was Chancellor form 2005 through 2021, and that she was CDU. She also held a pretty secure parliamentary majority during most of that time. There are plenty of targets for blame IMO. Merkel may have the somewhat rare experience of being considered a "good" Chancellor while in power and actually be somewhat (justly I think) vilified in history. Many of the things she did, particularly her handling of the refugee crisis and the German military/defense posture are not looking very good in retrospect. The continuation of Ostpolitik, which was never a CSU/CDU espoused policy, is certainly now come back to bite them. Who knew? Lots of people in her own party knew. It didn't matter. She was popular and the low energy cost made Germany's exports cheaper than they would have been otherwise. That, coupled with a Euro that was much weaker than the DM would have been because of the weaker economies in Europe served Germany well. However, it may not have been Kostenlos.