"Western allies can work around toxic decision-making in small countries such as Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. But Germany is too big to ignore", writes Edward Lucas, non-resident Senior Fellow and Senior Adviser at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Calling Germany "the weakest link" of its allies, Lucas claims that the country "clearly needs a new security policy".

"Ukrainians and their friends are justifiably furious about all this. The Zeitenwende [seachange] that the German leader announced after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 has proved deeply disappointing."