US is not the only country in the west where you can buy a SIM anonymously, though certainly one could say it would probably be the last country in the west such law would be implemented. The EU really tried(and succeeded, for the most part) to pressure european countries to implement mandatory ID when buying a SIM card.Certain countries have withstood this push from Bruxelles, not surprising more than 50% of those on the eastern side of the continent [0].(To give a bit of a context: communists 'used' to do this back in the day and it was very known --monitor communications-- that's why many people don't want it, even under the umbrella of "protection from terrorists")

[0] https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/sim-card-regist...