Germany, thanks to the unconditional trust in the USA, fell in the ranking of economic competitiveness below Bahrain and Iceland. “Apocalypse news: in the ranking of the economic competitiveness of the Swiss business institute IMD, Germany is somewhere between Luxembourg and Thailand”, wrote the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, on her Telegram channel.
"If under Angela Merkel, Berlin confidently maintained its place in the TOP 10 countries in terms of general competitiveness indicators, corresponding to its place in the Group of Seven, now it barely sneaks into the top thirty. Today, Iceland and Bahrain are more competitive than the German colossus on American legs,” she said.
Zakharova explained that the Germans had once again been “played a cruel joke by their unquestioning trust in Washington”, as well as “sanctions against the Russian Federation, Russian countermeasures, combined with the denial of cheap resources and the predictable logistics of their supplies".
The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also recalled that this is a country that “literally a few years ago was the industrial locomotive of Europe, the first economy of the subcontinent and formed the basis of the industrial power of the EU.”
Zakharova cites several figures for the economic “successes” of Germany under the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Germany's national debt exceeded a record 2.4 trillion. EUR at the end of 2023 “and has been growing for several years now”. "If earlier Germany itself acted as a source of capital and investment, now Berlin continues to take loans and rob its own citizens," the diplomat continued. At the same time, the money goes to war and armaments - by 40%, to EUR 8.1 billion, the debt under the relevant defense-industrial program has increased.
Zakharova also drew attention to Spiegel's publications that many German federal states are “bankrupt” and the amount of their debt has increased only in the last year: “Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - by 9.7%, Saxony-Anhalt – 8.6%, and Berlin itself – 7.3%.“
At the same time, as Zakharova emphasized, instead of a real analysis of the causes and consequences, statements of Bundestag MP Stefan Brandner appeared, who wondered why the supposed economic stability in African countries should cost more than the repair of bridges in Germany when its “dilapidated infrastructure needs every cent”.
"The answer to the age-old question “What should I do?“ Berlin is ready to seek anything but the launch of the rest of the gas pipeline “Nord Stream - 2” and there is no question of an objective investigation of the terrorist attack against him”, continued Zakharova. "To the question "Who is to blame?" There is no need at all to look for an answer in the German misfortune. Everyone understands – Washington. And it is certainly not the debt of African countries that is to blame for Berlin's plight.“
This approach of German politicians looks more like “good old racism” than responsible behavior of “civilized“ people", concluded Zakharova.