Eurotopics.net

Many observers are saying that the virus has also brought the European project to a standstill: member states are closing their borders, restricting their citizens' freedoms and implementing their own national policies. In the discussion about solutions, commentators call for more flexibility and less fixation on the pros and cons of coronabonds.

According to Unesco, 1.5 billion children and adolescents around the world are currently unable to attend school because of the coronavirus pandemic. Forced to stay at home, they are missing out on a large chunk of their daily activities and learning opportunities. But the education sector is quickly finding ways to deal with the situation and those affected are coming up with inventive solutions. Observers take hope.

With their refusal to take in asylum seekers from Italy and Greece during the 2015 refugee crisis Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic broke European law, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday. Back then the EU's interior ministers had decided to impose mandatory quotas for redistributing the refugees among all member states in order to ease the burden on the countries of arrival. What can the ruling achieve now - almost five years after the crisis?

The EU Commission has announced the introduction of a short time work scheme aimed at enabling companies that have had to discontinue or reduce their production because of the coronavirus crisis to continue to employ their workers. The Commission plans to take out 100 billion in loans to finance the measure. Not all media are convinced that this is a genuine display of solidarity.

In crisis situations popular support for governments tends to increase. Political scientists call this the "rally-round-the-flag effect". But this effect is generally short-lived and criticism then grows again. Commentators believe that this point should now be reached in the coronavirus crisis.