Not long ago, Brexit Britain was the bad boy of Europe. Then it was Poland’s turn, its rightwing leadership likewise excoriated for defying the Brussels establishment. Now, after the invasion of Ukraine, it’s Germany that’s getting all the stick. Some of this criticism is deserved. Some of it resurrects ugly stereotypes and old prejudices harking back to the Nazi era.
Olaf Scholz’s government is under increasingly fierce pressure to halt gas and oil imports that help fuel Vladimir Putin’s war machine – and stop blocking tougher EU sanctions on Moscow’s fossil fuels. When Germany’s chancellor visited Downing Street on Friday, Boris Johnson urged him to break Berlin’s and Europe’s “embarrassing” €1bn-a-day Russian energy habit.
