Italy and Spain are particularly affected by the corona virus. They want money to be released quickly – through a European emergency fund – to keep their economy afloat. That money is desperately needed. The Italian economy, for example, is paralyzed for more than two thirds.
Northern countries such as the Netherlands and Germany are currently blocking a European program. Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Finance) believes that countries should first pull out all the stops themselves. The Netherlands has a much lower national debt than Italy and therefore also has much more financial freedom. With comments about this, he has hunted down Southern Europe.
–
–
“It angers Italians,” said correspondent Eveline Rethmeier. “Here you see reports that Dutch holidaymakers do not even have to come to Italy after the crisis.”
War situation
There is astonishment and misunderstanding that there is so little solidarity, says Rethmeier. “Italians say: you still do not understand what situation we are in. It is a kind of war situation. The whole economy is paralyzed, really only the essential industry is still there. For the rest it is a kind of war economy, not comparable to how it is in the Netherlands. “
According to the Italians, the Netherlands will also suffer from this if their economy collapses completely.
–
–
Advertisement in German newspaper
A group of prominent Italians, mainly mayors of badly hit cities, have in an advertisement in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung expressed their anger towards the Netherlands. “Dear German friends,” they begin. “With the coronavirus, shared history has become important in the Western world.”
According to Italian mayors, the survival of the European Union is at stake. “At the moment, the EU does not have the means for a joint response to the crisis. If you don’t prove it now, it will cease to exist.”
The Italians have clearly had it with the Dutch. “It is our households and the socially weak who are most affected by the crisis. The Dutch attitude is an example of a lack of ethics and solidarity in every way,” they write.
After that, the Italians do not hesitate to bring in the war. They gently remind the Germans that the German debt in 1945 was almost 30 billion Deutsche Mark. In 1953, 21 countries, including the Italians, canceled half of the debt so that Germany could avoid a state bankruptcy. “Italy is still proud and convinced of the correctness of the decision back then.”
“We repeat it: with the Eurobonds for the fight against the corona virus, old debts are not resolved or distributed,” say the Italians, who want to emphasize that the northern countries will not pay for their debts. “Dear German friends, the memory helps to make the right choices.”
–
–
“We are seeing a full-page ad this morning, in which Italians are calling on the Germans not to follow the line of the Netherlands. Italy wants to increase the pressure with this type of advertisement,” says Rethmeier.
Guilt
Germany correspondent Jeroen Akkermans calls such an advertisement a shot ahead. “The pressure is being increased. And the way in which the Italians do this appeals enormously. They have understood that correctly. The letter is also about saving Europe, and the Second World War is also mentioned. That the Italians were have canceled a debt to Germans. “
The letter writers respond to ‘the feeling of guilt and the feeling of the EU’. “And those are two vulnerable places in Germany.”
–
–
According to Akkermans, there is support in Germany for the position of the Netherlands. “It puts Germany in a huge split. They don’t think in Germany: let the Netherlands fix it up. But I think that there will also be awareness in Germany that something has to be done. The debt burden in Southern Europe was already great, and is now increasing even further. There has to be a solution. They don’t want to leave the Italians to their own devices. “
–
–
Spain correspondent Alex Tieleman is also not appreciated the attitude of the Netherlands. “I also see tweets from Spaniards who say that Dutch tourists will not receive a friendly welcome even after the corona crisis.”
The Spanish journalist Iñaki Gabilondo speaks of ‘betrayal’: “The Netherlands has never been so low.”
Schnapps und frauen
Just like in Italy, the Spaniards think that the Netherlands does not understand what kind of situation they are in. Help is needed quickly, as the Spanish care system squeaks and creaks.
In Spain, the remark of ex-Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem still echoes. He said in 2017 that Southern Europeans should have spent their money less on ‘schnapps und frauen ‘. “How Rutte and Hoekstra talk about it now is, according to many Spaniards, inappropriate today. There is no solidarity, they see it as Dutch bluntness. Politicians from left to right find the attitude of the Dutch government downright ridiculous.”
–
–
