In an interview with Financial Times, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, stressed the importance of solidarity of the European Union that is facing the “moment of truth” due to Covid-19 pandemic.
As president to a country currently siding with the southern European region, which has taken the biggest hit during this pandemic, Mr. Macron believes there is no way out of this crisis but to establish a joint emergency fund aimed at providing support to the countries most affected by Covid-19. The fund will help countries like Italy and Spain fight the pandemic, as well as reestablish the economy once the pandemic has subsided.
The European countries most greatly affected by the pandemic, such as Italy and Spain, have called for the adoption of “Corona bonds” that would collect the debts of member states. However, this plan has faced opposition from some European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria.
In response to the opposition, the French president was quick to remind European nations that lack of solidarity during this pandemic could mean the end of the European Union as we know it.
Macron added, “If we cannot do this today, I tell you the populists will win today, tomorrow, the day after, in Italy, in Spain, perhaps in France and elsewhere”.
This, in turn, will confirm the allegations that the European Union has not been able to provide assistance to its members to cope with the catastrophic consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The French president also commented that the populists would say “They are all for Europe when it’s about exporting to our country the goods that they are producing. They are all for Europe when it’s about having your labour and your markets and producing car parts that we no longer make in our own country. But they’re not for Europe when it comes to mutualising debt.”
Macron’s comments came a day after the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Line, issued a deep apology to Italy for the slow response of the European Union to their health crisis. Von der Line told EU Parliament that many of them were not present at the time when Italy was in need of assistance, but the European bloc has now become the heart of the vibrant solidarity of the world.
This apology comes after Italy was left stranded by the European Union during this ordeal, while other countries outside of the EU, such as Cuba, China and Russia, came to the aid of Italy by sending medical teams and supplies that were necessary to help cope with the outbreak.
Italy ranks second after the United States as the most affected country in the world by Covid-19 after more than 22,000 deaths in the country were linked to the virus. The high number of cases and deaths in the country has fuelled criticism by Italy to the European Union for abandoning them during a time when they were in need for medical supplies and equipment.
This lack of interest by the EU has caused outraged Italian citizens to publicly burn the EU flag.
Just last month, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that this pandemic could keep the European Union in place, or might accelerate its termination as its health systems struggle under the weight of deaths and infections, he also stressed, at the time, that if Europe does not prove itself as capable during this time, the entire European plan risks losing its reason for existing in the eyes of our citizens.
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