Merkel and Macron: We cannot act as if the pandemic is over

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June 18, 2021 "We cannot act as if the pandemic is over". Angela Merkel said this when she met the press together with French President Emmanuel Macron, received in Berlin. However, the Chancellor wanted to reiterate the "great progress" obtained with the vaccination campaign: "In Germany, for example, we have exceeded the threshold of 50% of the population who received the first dose, at the same time the numbers of the incidence of infection". Nonetheless, "we still have to be careful with regards to variants, as we are seeing in Britain too".

"I'm still skeptical of seeing full stadiums"

"It is nice to see that 14,000 fans can return to the stadium in Munich. But when I see completely full stadiums in other European countries I am still a bit skeptical that this is the right answer to the current situation," Merkel said. to a question about European football. "The pandemic is not over", reiterated the chancellor, "and the delta variant is dangerous". After the press conference, the face to face with the French president, mainly on European issues.

"We need dialogue with Russia and Turkey"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a dialogue between the European Union, Russia and Turkey. "It is in the interest of the EU to ensure security and stability", said the leader at a joint press conference with Macron.

Macron: situation under control, but beware of variants

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the situation of the delta variant in France and Germany is under control but that we must be vigilant. We must "be careful," the head of state said at a joint press conference with Merkel in Berlin.

"EU countries must

coordinate the reopening of

borders"

European countries should better coordinate their respective policies to reopen their borders in light of the uncertainties related to the new variants of the coronavirus, Macron later said. "Some countries have reopened their borders more quickly for reasons related to the tourism industry, but we must be careful not to re-import new variants," he said.

"Good return of the USA "

Macron then returned to rejoice at the newfound US participation in the international community: "Having a partner who is committed and who believes in cooperation and multilateralism is positive", underlined, during the press conference in Berlin with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. . 

The two leaders then agreed on the opportunity to accelerate collaboration with third countries, such as Tunisia, Morocco or Libya, to limit the departures of migrants.