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Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra admitted on Tuesday that he had not "shown sufficient empathy" with southern European countries when they called for more financial solidarity with the issuance of coronabonds and access to funds from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) .

"We should have made it clear last week, including myself, that we want to help . We did not empathize that enough. We expressed it in such a way that it sparked resistance," the minister admitted, speaking to the Dutch economic news channel RTL Z.

However, the Dutch minister still does not consider this "a good time to have a European debate " on joint debt financing through the coronabonds because they "provide more risk, rather than less and that is a mistake in this moment".

He says that the Dutch government is "happy to be available" to talk about money , including whether it is the start-up of medical facilities in countries of the European Union that are being severely affected by coronavirus infections, such as the case of Spain and Italy.

Hoekstra emphasizes that it is "logical" that an appeal for solidarity be made from the countries of southern Europe and, he assured: "A strong EU also interests us" as the Dutch , but that the Government of The Hague should "have made it clearer "Including him as finance minister, who held a tough position, he added. "We were very little empathetic, and honestly we should have been more," he lamented.

Last week, Hoekstra suggested to the European Commission to investigate the member countries of the Union that "had not reformed their economies" in recent years to have enough reserves to serve to combat a crisis of this size, a request seen by, among others, Italy, Spain and Portugal, as a lack of solidarity in the midst of a health emergency.

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