The COVID-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to curtail democracy as well as fundamental rights and values, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday while presenting the country's EU council presidency plan for the next six months to the European Parliament
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2020) The COVID-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to curtail democracy as well as fundamental rights and values, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday while presenting the country's EU council presidency plan for the next six months to the European Parliament.
Berlin assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1.
"We had to limit the citizens' basic rights to stop the spread of the pandemic. We have paid a steep price. This has been an extraordinary measure, which can only be used for a short period and only as a result of an emergency and a pandemic. The pandemic must not become an excuse for a clampdown on democracy. The fundamental values and tights are the achievement of entire Europe," Merkel said.
She also called on the EU countries to stand united while trying to overcome the consequences of the outbreak.
"No one will make it through this crisis on its own, [as] we are all vulnerable. European solidarity is not a humanitarian gesture, it is a long-term investment. It is not something that is conjured by a political calculation, but is something that justifies itself," the chancellor said.
During its presidency, Germany plans to concentrate on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, especially economic ones, while stressing the need to protect the environment and move toward so-called green technologies, as well as the ongoing digitization process.
