‘We must persevere and be patient’, said Angela Merkel in a speech in parliament earlier this month, defending her decision to prolong the hard lockdown until 7 March. ‘It might be the case that you don’t like this decision’, she added, with a nod to the opposition (mainly the Alternative für Deutschland representatives who have been demanding an immediate lifting of the lockdown). ‘But we have to live with reality’, she said.
This appeal to ‘reality’ is yet another example of Merkel’s arrogance. Reality, she seems to be suggesting, is what politicians say it is. But her comment was also a defensive one, because, in truth, things are not going according to plan in Germany.
First and foremost, there is the EU’s vaccination mess-up, which has rattled Germany. At the time of writing, less than two per cent of the German population has been fully inoculated against Covid (about 1.6million people), while 3.5 per cent have received their first shot. Merkel’s role in this mess has been gleefully discussed in the popular newspaper, Bild. One article – headlined ‘This is how Merkel put the brakes on the vaccine purchase’ – explains how Merkel called off her health minister from purchasing vaccines, insisting instead that orders should be placed through the EU.
‘In this biggest crisis since the Second World War, we Europeans stick together’, said Merkel in her speech. This won her praise from the usual pro-EU quarters (the Süddeutsche Zeitung said she was in keeping with the European spirit). Yet people are right to ask whether this is really the best that we – Germans and other Europeans – should expect. Der Spiegel is now talking about a ‘dramatic loss of confidence’ in the EU. Last week it published a survey in which 42 per cent of Germans said their view of the EU had deteriorated (with only six per cent saying it had improved).
[Interesting Read]
See Also:
(2) ‘A recipe for never unlocking’
(3) Etched on their faces, the shocking toll of care residents’ months in isolation
(4) ‘The joys of the euro!’ French fury after breaking record for worst-ever eurozone deficit
(5) Rishi Sunak could target pension pots with tax raid as savers ‘may need to act soon’
