2022 Year in Review

FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR FRANCO-GERMAN RELATIONS
France and Germany are the European Union's two largest economies and two
of the organisation’s founding members. Their cooperation is critical for EU
policy making. Their relationship has become fraught with disagreement amid
tensions surrounding a worsening energy crisis. Whilst France has advocated for
a European gas price restriction, the German government only consented to do
so a few weeks ago — and with various conditions. Germany has also been
chastised for agreeing to a 200 billion euro rescue package aimed at assisting
German businesses and families while blocking EU-level efforts to raise extra
funds and assist European nations with limited funding. As a consequence, the
image of the German Federation is starting to shift to a more selfish one. “The
relationship [between Germany and France] is obviously strained, a
development I blame mostly the German government for,” Jacob Kirkegaard,
senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund think tank, said to CNBC.
HOW GERMANY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA
GARNERS INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM
With the current war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine, the relationship
between Germany and Russia has exposed some of Germany’s current morality
issues in international relations. Following Putin’s 2012 announcement to run for
President again, Germany responded with an affirmation of their commitment to
keep friendly relations towards Russia. The former German strategy was
reasonable, even promising. It was built on conversation, a high level of
tolerance, and the belief that trade and investment would eventually alter
Russia. The Kremlin regime's actions, however, only got worse, culminating in
the current war. As a direct consequence of the war against Ukraine, Germany,
following other EU states, imposed sanctions on Russia. Chancellor Scholz
pronounced a shift in action towards the Kremlin, but the dependency on Nord
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