A split Europe: Merkel’s divide between politics and economy

Europe’s leading decision-maker, Germany, has persuaded Hungary and Poland to compromise on the rule-of-law sanctions which in turn cleared a huge roadblock ahead of the European Union’s emergency COVID-19 aid contributing to the possibility of the advancement of other pressing matters, but the story is a bit more complex.

According to Politico, although it was Merkel who is due credit for resolving the issue, she is also the one responsible for it in the first place. According to the news outlet, Merkel quietly sat through Viktor Orbán’s and Jarosław Kaczyński’s road to dismantling their respective countries’ democracies.

Merkel, or in other words, Europe’s de facto leader, tried to quietly solve the issues at hand, but with time, it was evident that this political method of patience and tolerance needed to change and tackling the issues needed a different approach, something other than Merkel’s typical behind-the-scenes diplomacy. According to Politico, Angela Merkel’s passivity “[drove] a new wedge between the Western and Eastern halves of the bloc and fanning nationalist flames”. The relations between Germany and Poland have also greatly suffered as Warsaw refused to approve Germany’s new ambassador to Poland. In the end, Poland gave way, but that was a symbolic stab at Germany reminding it of its history. Warsaw accepted the appointed ambassador on September 1, the anniversary of the 1939 German occupation of Poland. Politico highlighted that