In the history of the European Union, few states have played a more consistently constructive role than Germany. After the Second World War, successive German governments have been keen promoters of European integration, realizing that without it, the country’s political rehabilitation and economic resurgence would have been unthinkable.
The eurozone crisis seems to have changed all this. Germany is increasingly the odd man out in Europe, seen as single-mindedly pursuing its own economic interests without concern for its European neighbours. And indeed, while the euro’s problems did not originate in Germany, its response has played a major role in allowing the crisis to linger for more than two years.
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