> In this case, I blame the Merkel government for putting the financial well-being of its citizens over ethical principles,

Its much worse than that in terms of realpolitik: the gains were short-term, the costs will be paid for over decades, and disproportionately allocated to germanys eastern neighbors like the Poles and Estonians who are at increased risk of Russian aggression.

It really was such a bad tradeoff and I don't think this is hindsight: Russia is basically doing what is has been doing for centuries.

Complete failure of the German political system between 1990-2020+