Corona Virus Impacts the Old Continent

The year 2020 was promising to be a great one for Europe. This was the year that would finally put an end to the much-debated Brexit issue, terrorism was slowly getting put in its place at the initially never-ending migrant crisis was slowing down.

For years, the European Union had been striving to relive the dream of open internal border policy.

Sadly though, all the hard work is coming undone due to the emergence of coronavirus with cases popping up daily in France, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Croatia and now in Germany.

The largest epidemic in Europe this century can be traced back to Italy where around 300 people have been infected. With the cases multiplying and more and more countries being added to the list of affected areas, people are now calling for borders to be closed off which could spell the end of a continent where countries would have been operating beyond borders.

The laissez-faire principle which initially seemed to be made for the European Union is now looking more and more like a pipedream as we see reports of coronavirus cases emerge in some new region on an almost daily basis.

And while there were voices calling for borders to remain sealed before the deadly virus even emerged in China, the emergence of this contagion poses a new challenge for those who always longed for Europe to operate as a borderless entity.

For instance, Switzerland might not be a part of the European Union but is part of the border-free area. But ever since cases of the contagion emerged, right-wing politicians have started finding their voice again and are now adamant for a closed-door policy.