Russia flags Europe’s economic decisions as self-inflicted damage

Some European countries, particularly Germany, are currently engaging in what amounts to “self-harming,” undermining their own economies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in an interview with Sputnik radio.

“I called this process, so to speak, their self-harming. Specifically, the self-harming of EU members. Not all — Hungary and Slovakia have resisted in some ways, I mean, the current ruling regimes. But Germany is at the forefront of this movement,” Zakharova said, commenting on the high costs for citizens resulting from certain EU countries’ rejection of Russian energy supplies.

Zakharova cited data from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office showing that over 20,000 German companies declared financial insolvency in 2025, a 10% increase compared to 2024. She stressed that for a country that was a leading European economy, these figures are staggering, noting that “this has become a system,” with conditions worsening year after year.

“Why, what caused this? Was Germany attacked? A failed investment? No. It is simply a principled choice to abandon full sovereignty. They were already under a protectorate — the number of US troops stationed, US bases, US weapons, unchecked by Germany, with no right to ask questions, US surveillance of German government leaders — all of this was taken for granted,” Zakharova said.

“If this were a developing economy, unstable, facing high inflation or clear problems from technological disasters or armed conflict, I would have no questions. This (the economy) was Germany’s hallmark, its core strength. Germany not only took pride in it, it fully bet on it — not on philosophical foresight, not on a special approach to scientific and technological innovation, but on the economy. The economy, linked with industry, production, and science, was meant to be — and was — the driver that put Germany in a leading position,” she added.

Earlier, Zakharova noted, Berlin at least had economic manoeuvring room — “the same pivots under Chancellor Angela Merkel kept Germany among the world’s economic leaders.”

According to Zakharova, “the absolute enemies of the German people — Scholz, Baerbock — have done to the German economy what they, frankly speaking, have done.” Under their leadership, Germany invested not in the economy, but in a project called “Ukraine,” which led to bankruptcy, the diplomat noted. 

“It has also led to new enterprises going bankrupt every 20 minutes in Germany, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. German, not some Russian ones in Germany,” the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry concluded.

By Jeyhun Aghazada