German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Covid-19 restrictions had been a ‘challenge to democracy’, but one that was made more tolerable by democratic transparency.
Urging Germany to remain ‘clever and cautious’ in handling the next phase of the coronavirus epidemic, she told the Bundestag: ‘I know how difficult the restrictions are, it’s a challenge to democracy, it limits our democratic rights.’
However, democratic transparency, such as a free press, helped to make the situation tolerable.
Merkel said controlling the virus was a huge challenge for the cohesion of Europe.
‘It’s the biggest challenge since World War Two, for the life and health of our people,’ she said.