Europe at aglance NEWS 5
21 March 2020 THE WEEKBrussels
Partiesunite:
Belgium’swarring
politicalparties
havesetaside
theirdifferences
tofightthe
coronavirus.After
15 monthsof
wrangling,they
agreedthis
weektoback
aminority
government,whichhasnowintroduced
aseriesofmeasurestotacklethecrisis.
UnveiledbyinterimPMSophieWilmès,
theseoblige allcitizenstoremainathome
asmuchaspossible.Onlyfoodshopsand
chemistsremainopen,andthoughpeople
areencouragedtoexerciseoutside,they
canonlygotoworksafetyregulationsare
compliedwith.Non-essentialtravelabroad
isforbidden,andhairdresserscanhavejust
oneclientatatime.
Berlin
Enemiesofdemocracy:Germany’s
domesticintelligenceagency(theBfV)
hasofficiallyclassifiedagroupwithinthe
AlternativeforGermany(AfD)partyas
afar-rightextremistthreattodemocracy.
TheAfDisthelargestoppositionparty
intheGermanparliament,theBundestag.
Butatapressconferencelastweek,the
headofBfVdescribedtheAfD’sleadersin
thestatesofThuringiaandBrandenburg–
BjörnHöckeandAndreasKalbitz–as
“right-wingextremists”and“enemies
ofdemocracy”.Bothareleadersofthe
groupingwithintheAfDknownasDer
Flügel(“thewing”).Thereclassification
ofthegroupwillmakeiteasierforthe
intelligenceagencytousewiretapsor
informantstomonitoritsactivities.Paris
Nation “onwarfooting”:Francepressed
ahead with nationwide municipalelections
on Sunday, even asanti-coronavirus
measures werebeingsteppedup. Afew
hours beforepollingopened,thegovern-
mentannouncedthe compulsoryclosure
ofallnon-essential shops and businesses–
includingrestaurants andcinemas–until
theendofthe month.Asofthisweek,
citizensmayonlyleavehome tobuyfood
andother essentials,traveltoworkif
unavoidable,takeexerciseor attend
medical appointments.And second-round
votingintheelectionshasbeen postponed.
“We areat war,’’saidPresident Macronin
anaddresstothenation. “The enemyis
invisible anditrequires acalltoarms.”
Hesaidthearmywouldhelptransport
patientstohospitals,and100,000police
wouldbepatrollingthestreetstoenforce
thelockdown.Anyonefloutingtherulesis
liabletoafineofs 13 5.
Lesbos,Greece
Cashincentives:Thousandsof migrants
livinginovercrowded camps on Greece’s
Aegean islandshave beenoffereds2,
eachby the EU toreturnto their countries
of origin. The sum isfivetimes what is
paidunderasimilar UN-backedscheme.
The EU scheme,which wasannouncedlast
weekandwill runforamonth, is designed
to encourage thereturnofeconomic
migrants–those whohavemadetheir
wayto Europein searchof abetter life,
not refugeesfleeing war andpersecution.
Thereare believedtobearound5,
such migrantsincamps on Lesbos, Kos,
Chios,Samos andLeros. However,this is
onlyafractionofthe total:the islands are
also hometoaround40,000 asylum
seekers, with more arrivingbyboat from
Turkey.Aidagencies have warned that if
Covid-19 arrives in theseovercrowded,
unsanitary camps,ahumanitarian crisis
willturnintoadisaster.Utrecht,Netherlands
Bikezone:Thefastestgrowingcityinthe
Netherlands,Utrecht,hasunveiledplans
foravastcanal-sidedevelopmentof6,0 00
flats thatwillbecar-free,makingitoneof
westernEurope’slargestpedestrianised
quarters.KnownasMerwede,thehousing
projectwillincludefourdead-endaccess
roadsandundergroundgaragesfora
limitednumberofcars,butatstreet-level,
itwillbeentirelytraffic-free.Theideais
toincreasethequalityoflifeforresidents,
andcementcyclingasUtrecht’sdominant
modeoftransport.Ofthecity’s350, 000
residents,96%ownatleastonebike,and
Utrechthaslongbeenapioneeroftravel
bycycle.Itbuiltthecountry’sfirstbike
lanein1885,closedsomecentralstreets
tocarsin 19 65,andlastyearopenedthe
world’slargestmultistoreybikepark,with
spacefor12,500bicycles.Catchup with daily news at theweek.co.uk
Madrid
Europeextendslockdown:TheEuropeanUnionhas
sealed itsexternal borders, inadesperateeffort to
slow the coronavirus pandemic. Forthe next 30 days,
mainly only returning permanent residentsofEU
countries (andcitizensof the UK) will be able to
enterthe EU and the Schengenzone. However,
visitors with anessential reasonto travel(doctors and
diplomats, for instance) are exemptfromthe ban, as
are cross-border workers,and passengersintransit.
Movementwithinthe bloc’s borders remains allowed,
though restrictionsareinplace in somecountries.
AcrossEurope,governmentsbrought in new
measures tofight the virusthisweek.Italy, whichhad
more than 31,500casesbyWednesday, remainedin astate of lockdown. Spain,the
secondworst affected country in Europe,with13,000cases, extendedaninitial
15-day stateofemergency.Thearmyhas beendeployedto enforceastrictcurfew,
whichhasturnedmajor cities into ghost towns,and thegovernmenthastakencontrol
of the private medical sector. Ireland,whichhad 300casesby mid-week,broughtin
lawsgiving theauthoritiesthe power toclosemass gatherings, andtohaveinfected
patients detained if theyrefuse to self-isolate. Asof Wednesday,theonly European
countrynottohavemandatedschool closures wasBelarus.