Europe at aglance NEWS 928 March 2020 THE WEEKMoscow
Familybusiness:RomanPutin,a42-year-
oldbusinessmanwhoisacousinofthe
Russianpresident,hassetupapolitical
partytosupporthispowerfulrelativein
theupcomingelections.Roman,theson
ofPutin’sfirstcousin,is,likePutinhimself,
aformerofficerintheintelligenceservice.
HehasdescribedhisPeopleofAction
partyasaright-wingmovementthatwill
backPutin’sUnitedRussiapartyinareas
whereitlacksseats.“Ourcountryneedsa
strongleader,especially[during]aglobal
crisis,”hesaid.“Thereisnoalternative
toVladimirPutin.”Thisweek,Moscow’s
mayorwarnedPutinthatthenumberof
Covid-19casesinthecapitalisfarhigher
thanofficialestimates.Officially,thereare
658 casesinRussia.Paris
Lockdownextension:Thescientific
counciladvising President Macronon
thecoronaviruscrisis has calledfor the
lockdownthatwasinstitutedon17 March
tobe extendedfor atleast sixweeks.The
callcameonTuesday, asFrancebecame
thefifthcountry worldwide tohavemore
than1,000deaths(after Italy,China,Spain
and Iran).Macronannouncedapartial
lockdown aweek earlier thantheUK, and
in animpassioned20-minuteTVaddress,
declaredthat hiscountrywas“atwar”.
As inthe UK, people canleavethehouse
tobuyfoodor medicine,exercise,or travel
toessentialwork.Butunlike intheUK,
theymustfillinaform statingtheirreason
for beingout,andtake itwiththem.
Thousands havebeenfineds135 for
breakingtherules. Separately,it was
reportedthat Macronhadrepeatedly
threatenedto closeallentrypoints from
theUKunlessthe Britishgovernment
adoptedharsherlockdown measures.
Kipoi,Greece
Border confrontation:Greece’sarmed
forces deployed giantfans at theEvros
border crossing withTurkeylastweek,
to blow back smokeandtear gasfired
by Turkishforces. They’d created the
smokescreen togive cover to migrants
trying to cut throughafence andenter
theEUvia Greece. Last month,Turkey’s
PresidentErdogan said he would nolonger
prevent thefour million Syrian refugees in
Turkey,or other migrantswhowanted to
travel totheEU, from crossing into
Greece, leading to weeksofchaos and
violent confrontations attheborder.
Athenssays it hasblockedmore than
42,000peopl efrom enteringthecountry
since Erdogan’sannouncement. However,
last week,the presidentannounced he was
sealingthe countryoff again,tostopthe
spreadof Covid-19, promptingarush to
the border by migrants desperate to make
it acrossbeforeitwas too late.Catch up with daily news at theweek.co.uk
Madrid
Icerink becomes morgue:Spainrecorded 514
coronavirus-linked deaths inasingle 24-hour period
this week,bringing itstotal deathtoll to 3,434 by
Wednesday. Around47,600 people were known
to have been infected,including5,400 healthcare
workers. On Monday,the nationwas appalled by
reports–later confirmedby the defence ministry –
that soldiers drafted in to help contain thepandemic
by disinfecting residentialcarehomes (pictured) had
foundanumberofelderlypeople whohad been abandoned when staffstopped
comingintowork. Someweredeadintheir beds. With funeralhomes and hospitals
overwhelmed,amajor ice rink in Madridwasrepurposedasatemporary mortuary;
in Cádiz, an 84-year-oldretiredseamstress was reportedtobemachine-stitching
face masksaday,tomake up forshortages.
In Italy,743peopledied on Tuesday–making ittheseconddeadliest dayofthe
outbreakthere,and dashing tentative hopes that thecrisismighthave peaked.For
two daysbeforethat, th etrend hadbeen slightly downwards.With fata litie sclose
to 7,000, and casesapproaching 70,000,thegovernment wassettoapprove fines of
s3,000 forviolationsofthe lockdownand powers to extend ituntilJuly.Twenty-four
townswith Covid-19 clustersare nowcompletelysealed off by armyroadblocks.Berlin
Historicchallenge:AngelaMerkelconfirmedthisweek
thatshehastestednegativeforthecoronavirus.The
Germanchancellorhadstartedtoself-isolateafter
beinggivenapneumoniavaccinebyadoctorwho
latercamedownwiththevirus.OnSunday,Germany
unveiledmeasuressimilartothoselaterintroducedin
theUK,banninggatheringsofmorethantwopeople
inpublicplaces,andnon-essentialtrips.Asof
Wednesday,Germanyhadreported 3 5,000cases,the
thirdhighestnumberinEurope.However,only 0 .5%
ofthosewhohavetestedpositivehavesuccumbedto
thedisease,comparedwith9.4%inItalyand4.3%inFrance,somethingtheauthorities
haveputdowntotheiraggressiveeffortstotestandtrackevenmildcasesofthedisease
(seepage 25 ).Lastweek,anuncharacteristicallyemotionalMerkelmadearareTV
addresstothenation.“Thesituationisserious.Takeitseriously,”shesaid.“Since
Germanunification,no,sincetheSecondWorldWar,therehasbeennochallengetoour
nationthat hasdemandedsuchadegreeofcommonandunitedaction.”
ElsewhereinEurope,Iceland,Luxembourg,LiechtensteinandSwitzerlandhaveall
reportedfiguresthatputtheiroutbreaksat 1 ,000casesofthecoronaviruspermillionof
population(effectivelytentimesasmanyastheUK).However,thisdataisprovisional,
andmaybeskewedbydifferentratesoftestingforthevirus.