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Join on Telegram Rabat – The 27 heads of state of the European Union (EU) called for unity and solidarity to overcome the coronavirus crisis today in a video compilation published on the European Council website.
To mark the occasion of Europe Day, May 9, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that “Europe is freedom, tolerance, openness, diversity, respect, innovation, creativity, dynamism. Europe is also solidarity and unity. Europe is you, it’s all of us together.”
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose country is among the hardest hit in the world by the pandemic, said that at this difficult time, Europe needs the spirit of solidarity advocated by Robert Schuman, one of the EU’s founders.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted that today’s main objective is to come out “stronger” from the COVID-19 crisis. Germany is set to take over the rotating presidency of the EU Council in July.
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the EU’s founding by its seven “founding fathers”: German Konrad Adenauer, Luxembourger Joseph Bech, Dutch Johan Willem Beyen, Italian Alcide De Gasperi, French Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman, and Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak.
“Dare to reinvent, unite, think and act for the future. It is this European spirit that we still need today,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
Several international organizations are emphasizing the spirit of solidarity necessary to overcome the global pandemic.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all stakeholders to act in solidarity and stand against hate speech in a speech delivered yesterday. His call included political leaders and civil society.
He also appealed to social media companies to flag and remove racist, misogynist, and harmful content in line with international human rights law.
At a press conference on April 27, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that national unity is the foundation for global solidarity and the solution to the global crisis.
“Solidarity, solidarity, solidarity—that’s what we will say every single day,” he emphasized.
