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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been growing increasingly critical of the European Union.
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His tone marks a notable shift compared to his more EU-friendly predecessor.
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Meanwhile, Merz has been building a relationship with EU-critical U.S. President Donald Trump.
The historically EU-friendly Merz, a former member of the European Parliament, now has a long list of complaints about the bloc. This has included objections to an increase in the EU’s new long-term budget that was proposed last month, as well as calling the bloc out for sluggishness and complex bureaucracy. Germany was also among the louder critics of the EU-U.S. trade agreement.
Hope springs eternal.
First, European countries are vassal states, and second, our politicians probably want the same thing Trump has now: absolute power unfettered by other branches of the state power.