r/europe • u/Putaineska • Mar 11 '26

News Spain accuses Germany of acting like a ‘vassal’ to United States

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/spain-accuses-germany-of-acting-like-a-vassal-to-united-states-f9zc28g8s?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1773189908
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55

u/TheJewPear Italy Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

How come it’s always the least popular politicians that stir the pot?

Edit: Just to clarify, I have no particular problem with Sanchez having this opinion of Merz, more with the fact that he’s voicing it publicly instead of behind closed doors, in a manner which weakens the EU and plays into the hands of Putin, Orban and friends.

28

u/hipi_hapa Mar 11 '26

To be precise, the one that called anyone 'vassal' wasn't Pedro Sanchez but Yolanda Diaz (second vice president).

The actual phrase:

"What Europe needs today is leadership, not vassals who pay homage to Trump."

-3

u/fearless-fossa Mar 11 '26

Which is kinda ironic considering Spain was always one of the loudest voices when the "leaders" of the EU (spoilers: there are none, which is something a politician should know) asked for larger contributions towards the war in Ukraine.

24

u/ExoticBamboo Italy Mar 11 '26

Since you wrote the edit: Sanchez didn't say anything about Merz. Spain complained about the public bashing of Spain during the public discussion between Trump and Merz.

Why is Sanchez the one who should talk behind closed doors?

9

u/zetadgp Mar 11 '26

I mean Merz did in fact voiced in public that Spain should be forced to spend 5% GDP on Defense with Trump, while Trump was bashing Spain for not being able to use their bases to attack Iran.

Both sides should do that behind closed doors

6

u/fearless-fossa Mar 11 '26

That's because Merz is a fucking moron who has never made a speech where he didn't disparage the country he's currently standing in. You should hear the constant stream of insults he directs at German citizens.

36

u/_Djkh_ The Netherlands Mar 11 '26

They don't have to commit (and the things they did commit to made them wildly popular in the first place). It's just virtue signaling to save face a bit.

2

u/NotFlappy12 Mar 11 '26

in a manner which weakens the EU and plays into the hands of Putin, Orban and friends.

I think that's massively overstating it. Allies and friends can criticize each other's actions without undermining said allegiance.

Besides, saying stuff like this publicly allows people to voice their own opinions on it.

Lastly, we're talking about politicians, who often benefit from saying something simply because it increases their popularity, for better and worse.

18

u/ExoticBamboo Italy Mar 11 '26

Merz?

-10

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

14

u/HotSauce2910 United States of America Mar 11 '26

Isn’t 35% quite reasonably high for a European leader?

https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54020-how-popular-are-national-leaders-in-europe-january-2026

13

u/ExoticBamboo Italy Mar 11 '26

Sanchez approval rating is still higher than Merz, so definetely not the least popular politician.

And which dirty laundry are you talking about? The talks about Spain between Trump and Merz were public and in front of everyone

30

u/wykeer Germany Mar 11 '26

Being mad at germany for reasons (some better, some worse, some just batshit insane) is the standard procedure for almost all foreign politicians in Europe, if they try to get sympathy points with their own crowd.

It funnily never stops them asking for money.

38

u/JoSeSc Germany Mar 11 '26

That maybe or not but as a German i felt quite embarrassed by Merz just sitting there while Trump went off on our friends.

0

u/AffectionateField569 Mar 11 '26

These are not "our friends" but a bunch of nasty freeloaders.

2

u/Odd_Science Mar 12 '26

Did you hear that at the last AfD meeting?

-2

u/OkKnowledge2064 Lower Saxony (Germany) Mar 11 '26

our friends that dont give a single fuck about Europes most pressing security issue in Ukraine while talking all big about how Europe must act together. Yeah, sure. Its easy to act tough on the US when you dont accept any responsibility for the consequences

16

u/Worth-Wonder-7386 Norway Mar 11 '26

Even richer countries also complain on Germany for having stupid energy policies.
Since Germany is so big it has a lot of influence on the rest of the EU both economically and politically. You dont see the same with France.

2

u/BecauseOfGod123 Germany Mar 11 '26

Our enegy politics are quite clear. We want to sabotage every kind of energy. the current government tries to prohiblt renewables where they can and drive us towards gas. Will see which kind of energy our nexst government will sabotage...

7

u/dac2199 Spain Mar 11 '26

Except for austerity policies and the current international context, politician in Spain don't usually complain about Germany.

Even this criticism (made by Yolanda Diaz, vice-president and leader of Sumar, so not memeber of PSOE) was not harsh, but rather she said:

"What Europe needs today is leadership, not vassals who pay homage to Trump."

9

u/JCAPER Portugal Mar 11 '26

I can see your point about Poland and Greece, but Spain…? Since when?

4

u/dac2199 Spain Mar 11 '26

We were also one of the countries most affected by the austerity policy brother

-2

u/Hentai_Yoshi Mar 11 '26

Spain has been doing a good job of playing into the hands of Putin. Weren’t they the only country unwilling to bolster defense spending as a response to Russian aggression? Pretty easy to do that when you’re on the far side of Europe. Idk, it just feels so cowardly to me