US president Donald Trump accuses the World Health Organization (WHO) of “mismanagement” in the fight against that Corona virus in front. As a consequence, he ordered a few days ago to suspend membership payments. Now the organization is getting a lot of encouragement.
–
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has clearly behind the work of the after the sharp criticism from Trump WHO posed. The Trump video call for the heads of state and government of the seven leading industrialized countries (G7) Merkel emphasized that the pandemic can only be overcome with a strong and coordinated international response, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said after the switch.
To this end, she expressed her full support to WHO and other partners such as the CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) vaccine alliance and the GAVI global vaccine alliance.
–
23 foreign ministers had previously participated in a telephone exchange organized by Germany for the so-called Alliance for Multilateralism. The WHO was also an issue.
Several countries are clearly committed to the WHO
The 23 countries insist on stronger international coordination in the fight against the corona crisis. “We support efforts to address the humanitarian problems of the coronavirus outbreak,” the statement said. Several EU countries, but also Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Argentina, Chile and Mexico expressly commit themselves to a more important role for WHO.
–
The common text of the 23 countries calls for the strengthening of all international organizations such as the UN, the WHO and the vaccination initiatives Gavi and Cepi. The foreign ministers also demand that cross-border trade and supply chains should be disrupted as little as possible. Where there are restrictions, they should only be “targeted, appropriate, transparent and temporary”. The background is, for example, that the EU regulates the export of medical protective goods to third countries.
Foreign minister Heiko Maas (SPD) defended this with the argument that the EU is currently trying to organize sufficient protective materials for all member states. This is the prerequisite for being able to help others.
–
Merkel welcomes initiative from Brussels
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to host an online donor conference on Covid-19 on May 4th. As government spokesman Seibert announced, Chancellor Merkel welcomes this project.
Against the background of the massive global economic impact of the pandemic, Merkel also welcomed the agreement of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors on a debt moratorium for developing countries and discussed further possible measures with the G7 partners, the government spokesman said. The Chancellor emphasized the special global responsibility for the situation in Africa and the need for rapid support from the African states.
–
The U.S. government currently chairs the G7 group, which also includes Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Canada and Japan. A G7 summit scheduled for June in the United States had canceled because of the pandemic. Trump’s announcement to stop US payments to WHO for the time being despite the pandemic had met with violent criticism internationally.
The US president shares the responsibility for the large number of deaths in the crisis. Over the next 60 to 90 days, his government would review the role that WHO had played in “poorly handling and hiding the spread of the coronavirus,” he said.
–
