The influence of Western European states on world politics has been waning in arithmetic progression recently.

The protracted economic recession comes as one of the primary factors behind this phenomenon. First and foremost, it is tied to the refusal to purchase relatively cheap Russian energy resources, primarily natural gas.

The explosion of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, an overt and explicit act of terrorism, has dealt a severe blow to the competitiveness of Europe’s main locomotive, Germany.

On November 15, Bloomberg Agency published an article stating that the Germans are running out of patience with their clumsy Chancellor. The lines go: “Friedrich Merz’s incapacity to address fundamental problems has contributed to the rise of far-right parties and fuelled speculation that his government could collapse prior to the end of its term. Merz’s bipartisan coalition is paralysed by internal quarrels and rivalry, and his scheduled pension reform faces an open rebellion from his party’s youth wing.” The upcoming year will be decisive for Merz’s government.

The anti-Russian course of the principal European powers, and their comprehensive and overarching backing of the semi-fascist regime in Kyiv, hoping, if not to inflict a strategic defeat on Moscow, then in any case, to be detrimental to Russia to the maximum, is now demonstrating its utter futility and, in essence, is undermining the standing of the authorities in power. The current change in the stances of the American administration to the conflict in Ukraine is a particularly shining example of the tendency.

This also leads to the cleavages in standpoints within the European Union. Three countries, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, are refusing to provide Ukraine with assistance, an obligation imposed on them by Brussels. Furthermore, the Visegrad Group states, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland have decided to legally challenge the European Union’s requirement to accept a minimum of 30,000 migrants or pay €600 million in compensation.

The pressure the American administration is exerting on the Europeans is becoming increasingly severe, with the White House forcing them to allocate 5% of their GDP for armaments and practically treating them like vassals in public. On November 12, US Secretary of State M. Rubio, in response to timid remarks from EU politicians regarding aggressive American actions against Venezuela, stated: “I do not think the European Union has the right to define what international law is, nor does it have the right to dictate how the United States safeguards its national security.”

According to the recent take from the American newspaper Politico, Europe runs the risk of meeting the fate of the Renaissance Italy due to political fragmentation and technological backlog: the European Union is not only politically divided but is also lagging in the industries that will define the future. Since 2008, the EU’s GDP has grown by a mere 18%, while in the US, the figure has doubled, and in China, it has nearly tripled. In 1995, Germany’s GDP per capita was 10% higher than that of the US; today, the US outperforms Germany by 60%. Europe invests in artificial intelligence just 4% of what the US invests (approximately 30% of European startups have relocated to the US, taking the most enterprising minds with them).

The former President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, recently stated that the EU’s shrinking clout in the world politics has literally eliminated Europe from the ranks of the “leading powers.”

The public is losing its trust in Western European ruling parties

Interestingly, French President Macron’s approval rating stands at 11 points, and that of German Chancellor Merz reaches 17. On November 12, Bloomberg Agency reported that the chaos in the leadership of UK Prime Minister K. Starmer is escalating into a “national crisis.”

The UK is now seeing a deepening division in the society. Nigel Farage’s Reform Party is, according to polls, outperforming both the Conservatives and Labour. In recent days, the rankings of Green Party leader Zack Polansky have tangibly increased. Just like New York Mayor Z. Mamdani, he vigorously advocates for eliminating inequality and introducing a tax on the wealthy, and the latest poll shows that 32% of voters aged 18 to 25 back the Greens.

The decline in trust in the ruling elites of Western European states can, to a certain extent, be explained by the degradation of their politicians, their incompetence, parochialism, and shortsightedness. Alamo the majority of these leaders are preoccupied solely with preserving their positions in power, rather than upholding national interests or caring about the population’s standard of living: corruption has become a byword. In early November, MEPs from right-wing factions filed a lawsuit against the European Parliament for its refusal to give the green light to an investigation into the EU vaccine procurement contracts. The move was demanded by around 80 MEPs.

In 2021, The New York Times reported that Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, discussed the European Union’s largest-ever vaccine procurement contract via text messages; even then, the head of the European Commission was suspected of her direct influence on these negotiations. The total value of the deal reached €35 billion, and the purchased 1.8 billion doses significantly exceeded the needs of the EU’s inhabitants.

MEP G. Brown wrote on social network X that von der Leyen is a danger to society, and a Finnish professor, T. Malinen, suggested she be removed from her post.

The total assistance from Western European states to Ukraine exceeds €200 billion, and even the Ukrainian press asserts that a significant portion of these funds has been embezzled. A recent scandal involving the theft of $100 million in Kyiv’s energy projects has once again drawn attention to corruption within the ranks of the Kyiv authorities. It is known that the head of an American aid organisation, after its dissolution under the Trump administration, admitted to having brought nearly $15 billion in cash to Kyiv.

Many observers believe that part of the aid to Ukraine was stolen; however, a considerable amount from this sum was used to bribe those European figures who loved to frequently travel to Kyiv in such an enthusiastic manner. As the corruption scandal in Ukraine proliferates, European figures are trying their utmost to sweep it under the rug, with their own political fates also being at stake.

The feebleness and narrow-mindedness of Western European rulers are manifested in their desire to steal the €200 billion in Russian assets frozen in European banks. For some time now, they have been pocketing the interest on these sums. It all resembles a character from the famous novel by Ilf and Petrov, who was stealing, but “stealing shyly.” Today, these rulers believe they should confiscate all the money as if they were highway robbers, failing to realise that their unlawful actions could set the stage for the collapse of the entire European financial system.

The inadequacy of the current European politicians’ approaches to international affairs is starkly illustrated by the statement of Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna in the wake of his trip to Beijing earlier in November. According to Tsahkna, if China wants to develop good relations with Estonia, it must stop supporting Russia. In this regard, it should perhaps be mentioned that few people on the planet can quickly find Estonia on a map. Its population is just over 1 million, while China is home to nearly 1.5 billion people. (The other day, newspapers reported that Estonia’s enormous expenditures “on preparing to repel Russian aggression” have in fact become a trough for individuals close to the country’s ruling party).

The sharp decline in the clout of Western European powers is documented with due precision by the mass media of the Global South. For instance, Saudi newspapers, as well as the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera, have repeatedly lamented the Europeans’ weak influence on ongoing conflicts.

All these processes bear witness to the fact that the era of Western European dominance is drawing to a close, and the loss of prestige, trust, and influence can hardly be restored by previous methods.

Veniamin Popov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, PhD in History. Courtesy

https://journal-neo.su/2025/11/23/the-decline-of-europe-confusion-and-vacillation-in-western-european-capitals-intensify/