The use of the European countries of the army to fight the coronavirus pandemic is a consequence of fear, considers a leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Fedorov.
In Europe moved the army against the coronavirus
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said, that Germany, following France and Italy, will use the army to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In Germany, an increase in the incidence of coronavirus is recorded, which is why this topic dominates today in the information and political agenda of this country.
Another question, which is not entirely clear, why use the armed forces - after all, the order and methodicalness of the Germans will allow them to stop the consequences of the pandemic by civilian methods. Because this statement is more political, demonstrating to citizens the great concern of the authorities.
Similar actions took place in France, where President Macron deployed troops to fight the coronavirus, and US President Donald Trump called himself a "wartime president". Interesting, Trump's presidential campaign has begun, and Macron before the coronavirus was under powerful political pressure from the “yellow vest” movement.
In Russia, everything is calm in this regard - President Putin set the task of combating coronavirus to the Russian government, and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported only on measures to prevent this problem in the troops.
A stock of masks has been formed, medicines and other means, moreover, this issue is under the personal control of the head of the department, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, which is not surprising, given the scale of the problem.
obviously, that the leadership of the military department represented by Shoigu will not allow the spread of coronavirus in the troops, for which all necessary countermeasures were taken, given the nature of the threat.
The participation of the Russian Armed Forces in the fight against coronavirus is possible only theoretically, because obviously, that Moscow will not use such actions for political purposes.
Europe is afraid of the coronavirus
"I do not think, that some political ambitions are taking over in the use of troops in the European Union. Western Europe is now scared of the current situation, especially those, what's going on in italy. Suffice it to say, that the borders are closed, and the notorious European solidarity remained in the background", – concludes Fedorov.
According to the expert, if you look at Macron's speech, he said at least five times, that "we are at war".
It is possible to treat such rhetoric in different ways., but in Western Europe they are extremely concerned about the existing crisis, so all this is a consequence of the prevailing moods. Europe with 1945 years living in the world, because of which the comparison with the war there does not surprise anyone.
“European authorities sometimes do not know, what to do. Because of what, they announce countermeasures with enumeration - do not gather for more than two, the rest do not leave their houses and stuff like that. For such control, since the gendarmerie and the police are completely unable to cope with the situation, in France decided to use the armed forces", – sums up Fedorov.
The Germans followed suit., because there is an increase in cases in this country. In Russia, such measures are unlikely to be introduced, because we have the situation under the control of civil services.
“As for the famous photographs with French military equipment, then Paris explained them with a planned transfer ", – sums up Fedorov.
Sergey Matveevich thinks, that all these events are explained by the fact, what the authorities in Western Europe do not know, what to do in today's extraordinary situation, and try to use the entire reserve, which they have.
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel remarked on this, that Berlin is facing such a problem for the first time since World War II. Questions in Germany, how society can react to the situation, if the healthcare system fails.”, – states Fedorov.
Because of this, According to experts, in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and other EU countries introduced seemingly redundant measures.
European economy enters crisis
The coronavirus problem has taken on a colossal scale, and it's not about the danger of this disease, and in that, that it caused a panic, which affected the situation in the global economy and finance.
In Western Europe, there is a sharp decline in industrial production, still to be filled, and states flood the financial system with money, not to cause the collapse of the economy, accustomed to living off debt.
“These stresses are taken into account in the European Union. In France, there is even talk of, that the bankrupt pillars of industry could be nationalized. Paris also considers, that as a result of this crisis, GDP could fall by 1 percent", – concludes Fedorov.
The rating here is for the current week, therefore, in the event of an aggravation of the situation and intensification of hysteria, the damage can be much greater. After all, the main blow to the economy is caused by measures to combat coronavirus.
"These are significant figures., especially internal debt, which in France approached 100 percent, will definitely go beyond this mark. And I think, that these are still optimistic estimates - it could be worse, and we don't know yet, How will financial markets react?, – sums up Fedorov.
Dmitry Sikorski
