1 Worried about variants, Germany believes that “Macron has nerves”
It is with concern that Germany observes the development of the Lorraine cluster of the South African and Brazilian variants. Lorraine, as much to say at its door. All the more so as two of the three border Länder record a viral incidence of less than 50. The president of the Rhineland-Palatinate region has underlined her desire not to close the border, a “living space”. The commitment of border officials is strong so as not to lead to the “galleys”, last spring, experienced by cross-border workers. The radical solution of reinforced controls has been applied since Sunday evening at the common borders with the Austrian Tyrol and the Czech Republic, where variants are proliferating, with traffic jams lasting several hours. France benefits from the credit of a rapid and strong response to this epidemic outbreak, as well as a curve of new contaminations apparently under control. But for how long? Seen from Germany, a country under cover (schools and shops closed) for two months because of the fear of variants, “Macron proves that he has nerves”, underlines the Frankfurter Rundschau. The daily also prophesies that “criticism of its crisis management, from masks to the vaccine, should hardly fall by 2022”.
2 For Italy, a France so close and so far away
Paris is running out of vaccine. In France, the epidemic is gaining ground and the French are falling like flies, hospitals may not have the required reception capacity. Faced with the progression of the three variants, Italy is turning in on itself and is content to convey the information in brief. No comments, no criticism and no opinion on the French strategy. After discussing the possibility of drawing inspiration from the French model last November, the Italian government no longer addressed this chapter. Silence is the order of the day, perhaps out of solidarity, perhaps out of fear. On the other hand, the man in the street wonders. “So how’s it going with you?” “, Ask the Italians punctually to their French friends, a little out of interest, especially to reassure themselves and to tell themselves that, after all, at home, things are not going so badly.
3 Spain sees itself as a host country for French people tired of restrictions
“The French, tired of the very strict restrictions in France, visit the Spanish capital”, headlined the Vanguardía, Spain’s national newspaper last week. If the French passing through Spain, to “flee the drastic restrictions imposed on their country and enjoy more freedoms” are making the headlines of the Spanish press, France is betting on a different strategy: that of “closing everything”. “The country of culture has been deprived of museums for over 100 days,” the EFE news agency stressed this week. A daily life far from that of the Spaniards. Seen from the Iberian Peninsula, the restrictions imposed in France appear “drastic but necessary”. Nevertheless, the French health situation remains, according to the Spanish media, “worrying” after the serious reinfection of a patient by a South African strain.
4 The English press mistreats French vaccination
On the side of London, the French situation is not the first concern of the British faced with a strong health tension at home. But Emmanuel Macron’s criticisms of the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for those over 65, and the British vaccine strategy of a twelve-week delay between the two doses of vaccine, have been widely relayed by the press. The Financial Times implies that the French President is trying to distract from his own difficulties with these attacks, polls support it. The British press severely judges the slow pace of vaccination in France. For the Daily Mail tabloid, this is due “to the European management of vaccine purchasing, to a rigid bureaucracy, and to a strong French vaccine-skepticism”.
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