Coronavirus: when the Netherlands regrets their “lack of empathy” towards Italy

Criticized for his lack of solidarity with Italy in the midst of a crisis, the Dutch Minister of Finance made amends. Wopke Hoekstra recognized, Tuesday, in an interview with RTL, to have shown "too little empathy".

At a summit by videoconference with his European counterparts last week, he had suggested to the European Commission to launch an investigation to understand why some countries did not have the budgetary margin to deal with the coronavirus crisis. A position supported by his Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, who helped to derail the discussions between the Twenty-Seven on the idea of ​​issuing coronabonds, a mutual loan.

To read also: Coronavirus in Europe: the dead end of the Twenty-Seven on "coronabonds"

This attitude has been strongly denounced across Europe, but also in the Netherlands. The Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, denounced a “repugnant” attitude and the “recurring meanness” of the country. Party leaders who are members of the ruling coalition in The Hague have also distanced themselves from this rigorous position.

If he now says he is ready to contribute "more than his fair share" to the common effort, Wopke Hoekstra camped however on his hostility to coronabonds. "It is simply not prudent, it is a solution to a problem that does not currently exist, " he explains. This logic of every man for himself did not prevent his colleague in charge of Agriculture from asking for EU support for the Dutch producers of tulips, affected by the crisis.