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April 23, 2020 A few hours before the European Council in videoconference called to find a unitary response to the coronavirus crisis in the Old Continent, a very clear signal arrives from Germany: yes to solidarity but no to instruments such as coronabonds, desired by the countries of Southern Europe starting from 'Italy.

Angela Merkel to the Bundestag: "We need solidarity"
 "For Germany, recognizing ourselves in the European Union is part of our reason for state," said Angela Merkel, speaking to the Bundestag and stressing the importance of European solidarity. "Europe is not Europe if you are not ready to support each other, in times of an emergency there is no fault," he said. "In this crisis, we also have the task of showing who we want to be like Europe," he added.

"Eurobonds? They are not the right tool"
 Eurobonds are not the best way to combat the coronavirus crisis given that for such a step "all Member States' parliaments" should decide that part of their budgets should be transferred to the EU and this would be "a very difficult process that takes a long time and not a process that would help in the present situation," said the Chancellor. Instead, it is now a matter of "helping quickly and having tools in hand that can alleviate the consequences of this crisis".

"The biggest challenge since World War II"
Merkel spurred cohesion. "It is the greatest challenge since the Second World War, for the life and health of our people" and "the question of how we can prevent the virus from overwhelming our health system and consequently prevent the lives of many people from being sacrificed it will be for a long time the central issue of politics in Germany and Europe ". Merkel added that when the vaccine is there, it must be accessible and made available to everyone.