The sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) against Russia have become a weapon against you. The reason is that Moscow’s response to the Blue Continent has made the industry in that region languish.
One of the countries affected by Putin’s retaliation is Germany. Sanctions against Russia prompted weakness in German industry, leaving one of the EU’s most powerful nations vulnerable to rising energy prices and high inflation.
“Germany is on a steady path of economic collapse and deindustrialization as a result of Europe’s anti-Russian policies and sanctions,” said German MP Uwe Schulz, a member of the right-wing AfD party, quoted from Al Mayadeen , Wednesday (16/8/2023).
Schulz added that the punitive measures against Russia had failed and were hitting the German economy. According to him, this had an impact on Russia’s position which rose to fifth in the world economy ranking, displacing its country.
“Sanctions against Russia and economic measures by the ruling Traffic Lights Coalition (German Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats) are leading Germany and its economic activity head-on to de-industrialization.”
Russia is ranked in the top five of the world’s largest economies by the end of 2022. It surpasses all its European counterparts in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).
Meanwhile, the President of the Ifo Institute, Clemens Fuest, said Germany’s economic situation was getting darker. The agency predicts Germany’s GDP will fall again during the current quarter.
In June, the eurozone officially announced that it had entered a recession. Among the main factors of this financial crisis is the decline of the bloc’s largest economy, ahead of which is Germany.
Following these events, official data released earlier this week showed that German industrial output fell significantly in June. Germany’s important industrial heavyweight, the automotive sector, saw a significant decline of 3.5%.
Germany’s Economy Ministry warned of a pessimistic outlook for the economy linking the slump to soaring energy prices and high interest rates which have had a negative impact on various industrial sectors.
Furthermore, the dire forecast for the German economy was also conveyed by the head of the Federation of German Associations of Employers in the Metal and Electrical Engineering Industry (Gesamtmetall), Stefan Wolf. He said earlier this week that German products were no longer competitive in the market.
“(Germany) has become Europe’s sick man,” he added.
The expression “sick man of Europe” was used by the press in the late 1990s to describe the dire state of Germany’s economy. At that time, Germany was deeply indebted and faced high costs of rebuilding its fragile production industry.
Source : CNBC
