Editorial Ta Nea: Collateral damage

The government has announced a stimulus package that ranges from support for labour and business to measures affecting the real estate market – including a 40 percent rent cut for businesses that were ordered to suspend activity.

It called on Greek banks to take similar action because if an economy is brought to its knees it is difficult to recover, especially after a decade-long crisis and with the deep wounds of bankruptcy still fresh.

This time of course the problem is not exclusively Greek or a matter concerning the weak links of the European south.

It is a problem that concerns all of Europe which has been forced to close its borders and freeze a wide spectrum of economic activity.

At a time when Europe is being racked by a pandemic and multi-nationals are announcing the suspension of part of their activity it cannot afford to leave millions of workers to their own devices.

Just as any other crisis this pandemic is multi-faceted and may produce collateral damage at a variety of levels.

The virus does not threaten only public health and the governments of EU member-states are well aware of that.

Yet they appear timid and reluctant to transcend their national borders in order to take collective action to benefit all European citizens.

One hopes that at least this time the collateral damage caused by this pandemic will not include European solidarity and cohesion.