The current governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are weakening day by day. Recently, more and more people outside the continent have become convinced that the role of Western Europe in world affairs is in decline.

Even the Egyptian Al Ahram concluded the other day that Europe’s external weakness is the result of its internal weakness. Despite all of Europe’s boastful claims of enlightenment, the continent’s politics remain as petty and short-sighted as the politics of any local mayor’s office.

The well-known Israeli military expert Yaakov Kedmi argues that Europe has degraded so much that it lives in a parallel reality, with Europeans continuing to live in the past.

Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, recently stated that the European Union is not keeping up with the pace of change in the United States and China, and if urgent economic reforms are not introduced, the Europeans will continue to lag behind.

According to the European Central Bank, for the 1st quarter of 2025, there is a serious inequality in the distribution of wealth in Europe. The top 5% of households account for 44.5% of total wealth, while half of the population owns only 5% of all assets. Germany, Italy, and France stand out: in the first two countries, the richest 10% account for more than 60% of the total wealth, while in France this figure is 54.8%. It is also noteworthy that Latvia and Lithuania are next in this list.

UK faces more and more problems

The situation is particularly acute in the UK, where more and more observers think that by the end of the year, the current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will step down. His authority is declining not only in the UK but also in the Labour Party. In this context, the Economist wrote about the “insignificance” of his power. Instead of dealing seriously with internal problems, the British government is trying its best to provide additional assistance to Ukraine to prolong hostilities.

The latest scandal broke out in connection with the dismissal of the British Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, whose appointment was heavily pushed for by Starmer after he came to power. English newspapers learned about the extensive correspondence between Mandelson and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking minors in 2019.

On September 13, the UK was rocked by a demonstration organized by the far right. According to the local press, more than 150,000 people took part in the protest to express their dissatisfaction with migration policy (however, no one doubts that the main reason is the incompetence of constantly changing governments).

The famous American billionaire Elon Musk spoke at the rally, calling for the dissolution of the British Parliament and the replacement of the center-left Starmer Labour government, and told the crowd, “Resist or die”.

Alternative for Germany

Germany, which was once called the locomotive of European economic development, is also in crisis and is going through a recession. The economic and political crisis has led to more and more Germans being dissatisfied with the policies of the authorities. In September, local elections were held in Germany’s largest federal state, North Rhine-Westphalia, which is traditionally considered an indicator of sentiment in the country as a whole due to its size and economic strength.

The two ruling parties, the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party, lost a considerable number of seats, but the Alternative for Germany (AfD) tripled its representation. According to polls, the AfD is leading among other political forces. German newspapers from time to time remind us that the largest billionaire on the planet, Elon Musk, repeatedly noted last year that the only thing that can “save Germany” is the AfD party.

The crisis in France reflects Western Europe’s general degradation

France is currently witnessing a most devastating crisis. After the recent fall of the Bayrou government and the uncertainty surrounding the budget, France’s long-term credit rating has been lowered for the first time in history. Economists are making analogies to football: France has just “changed leagues.” Due to the downgrade, the interest on the debt that the country pays will increase. What is currently costing France €55 billion annually may grow to €100 billion by 2029. The budget deficit this year is projected at 4.5% of GDP, and France’s total public debt exceeds €3.3 trillion, which is almost 114% of GDP.

Local media outlets are beginning to promote the idea that France is becoming the “sick man of Europe,” and only early presidential elections can help overcome the political paralysis. There has been a heated debate in the country about how to implement the idea of the young economist Gabriel Zucman, who is proposing to tax all owners of large fortunes 2% annually.

The fate of the European Union, within which the head of the European Commission is increasingly criticized, is also uncertain. Relations between individual states are far from ideal; Poland continues to actively demand sizeable reparations from Germany, and Hungary and Slovakia vigorously oppose the imposition of certain political and economic decisions by the European Commission. Almost 20% of the working-age population of the European Union, i.e., about 51 million people, are not part of the workforce, with most of them being women, the elderly, migrants, and the disabled, so there is widespread discussion about how to use this to fill the labour shortage.

The New York Times commented on the overall situation, noting that the fragmentation of politics in Britain, France, and Germany has led to centrist governments fearing loss of power and preoccupied with internal problems.

Unfortunately, today’s short-sighted politicians think only about preserving their own power instead of the interests of the population and expect that militarization will allow them to keep their high positions.

Mohamed Amer, Syrian political analyst. Courtesy

https://journal-neo.su/2025/09/21/the-three-main-western-european-states-are-losing-the-support-of-their-populations/