If Russia wanted to play the geopolitical games, it could hardly do much better than this - keep European folks scared with the Russian bear doctrine while simultaneously covertly promote and finance deindustrialisation of Europe and US. Turns out that it is much less expensive and more effective than the actual standing army.

This might be somewhat of a false argument—at least partially. What Russia managed to do here is not really that important. Instead, you need to look at what Russia did closer to home: inside Russia itself, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, etc. Consider how they handled Covid, or how their free market actually works. Then ask yourself if this is the direction you'd really like for us here.

The EU effectively ceased to exist the moment Covid hit. Schengen disappeared overnight, the internal European market was damaged, and each European country ended up applying its own blend of regulations and restrictions. The EU isn't prepared to handle a real crisis—it always defaults back to individual states. And because of that, I now expect a "coalition of the willing" to emerge and step in.

I do agree with your point that the EU has been consistently shooting itself in both legs for decades. I believe this was mostly done with good intentions (exactly the kind that pave the road to hell), and only somewhat nudged from outside. On the other hand, Germany shutting down its nuclear power plants clearly feels like an act of sabotage.