melinda crane hi melinda so we've seen germany support its neighbors with donations of medical supplies and even bringing critically ill people to be treated here in germany will that generosity extend when it comes to a joint if it's to help spur recovery in countries that have been hardest hit by current of ours. that's absolutely the question that is on the table today at that video conference e.u. summit that is currently going on and it's a question that has been posed over recent weeks both in german political circles and in polls to german citizens and the wide majority of germans absolutely say germany must support those southern european countries spain italy portugal greece that have been especially hard hit both in terms of health and in terms of the economy by the coronavirus that said where germans are divided and undecided is the same place that the e.u. leaders themselves are divided and that is over the question of mutualization of debt so-called euro bonds or corona bonds what's clear as that the european union will have to borrow money it can't simply pay for recovery out of its cash reserves now by taking this step today the chancellor said germany must contribute more to the budget until now the plan was that germany would contribute about one percent of its g.d.p. it's now that number will be significantly higher she said reminding her listeners that germany and europe are an absolute community where all fates are bound together so in that way she is definitely saying yes we are prepared to put more money on the table and she certainly will have germans behind her ok thanks manda is kosovan chief international editor richard woolcott he is in brussels richard we've seen european country actually holding a video summit to discuss the glocks response to the economic impact what can be expects to come out of that meeting. yeah well as we heard from melinda there's been a huge amounts of positioning going on over the past couple of weeks in the lead up to this very important meeting and if you think about the depth of the crisis there really hasn't been an economic collapse of this magnitude and this speed in a century really so the positioning has been taking place in every country we heard a little bit about germany there were certainly people want solidarity the question is what kind of solidarity and there's this sense that this idea of debt mutualization corona bonds is the lingo that's been spreading around europe is is a step too far for germany that this would be seen by many as a slippery slope towards kind of having joints debt for the entire operation of the euro zone but there is a bit of a glimmer of hope that there may be some room for compromise around a proposal that has come from spain and the idea from spain is that the european commission could borrow money on the international markets on the basis of the european budg

of his in brussels in a moment but 1st i'll start with our chief political correspondent melinda crane hi melinda so we've seen germany support its neighbors with donations of medical supplies and even bringing critically ill people to be treated here in germany will that generosity extend when it comes to a joint efforts to help spur recovery in countries that have been hardest hit by current of ours. that's absolutely the question that is on the table today at that video conference e.u. summit that is currently going on and it's a question that has been posed over recent weeks both in german political circles and in polls to german citizens and the wide majority of germans absolutely say germany must support those southern european countries spain italy portugal greece that have been especially hard hit both in terms of health and in terms of the economy by the coronavirus that said where germans are divided and undecided is the same place that the e.u. leaders themselves are divided and that is over the question of mutualization of debt so-called euro bonds or corona bonds what's clear as that

toughest negotiations are yet to come and i'm now joined by deed and his chief political correspondent melinda crane head of melinda's so germany will pay the biggest share of the emergency fund that e.u. leaders have agreed to set up is that bound to be some opposition to that in the country there will certainly be opposition from the far right alternative for germany party the f.t. they said very clearly yesterday that they were not willing to see any kind of increased aid from germany to help other e.u. members particularly the hard hit southern european countries but otherwise the my old so far criticism or somewhat mild criticism that we've been hearing is coming from different. members of the political spectrum including the junior coalition partner the social democrats saying the agreement yesterday didn't go far enough and germany's commitment didn't go far enough that bolder action is needed to really get an effective recovery fund up and working. so all of the so-called corona bonds that countries like germany and other northern countries are opposed to other they now off the table. no so far basically noth

melinda crane she's on the story force here in berlin tonight's good evening to you melinda there's a lot to talk about your donald trump he is criticized for promising his nation that normality will return quickly and merkel as we heard today she says that this virus will make life hard for a long time and she's afraid of a deadly setback here isn't she. absolutely and she is right to worry as she put it today we are only at the beginning of this crisis and essentially what she was trying to do is get germans her parents across on hall and she did me ologists a logistics here in this country say she's absolutely right to do so and most a small fraction of the german population has so far been exposed to the virus the virus remains a true danger to all those who are not yet and there is if there are you real risk that if the rates of infection start heading upwards again that the health care services although they in fact to manage very well still father could become overburdened and that's why you heard her in that sound bite saying let's not gamble away what we have achieved so basically trying to keep people on track here and absolutely doing it with her characteristic mixture of on the one hand gentle shining not only so gentle she actually referred earlier this week to orgies of relaxation of the restrictions i have way too far so chiding on the one hand and empathy on the other today she said i know that these restrictions are in many ways absolutely that equal to democracy but the fact is they are essential and let's not forget she speaks as a scientist as well as a cockroach that's right immense a difference when the leader of the country is a scientist that's for sure the chancellor addressed the economic cost of the pandemic today as well melinda not not just for germany but for all of the european union is her solution more german checkbook solidarity. well let's say 1st of all there is also solidarity now in another form in the beginning of this crisis many nations appear to simply be battening down the hatches but in the last couple of weeks germany has taken it over 200 other european countries patients for treatment of severe cove it and is also footing the bill for that of around 20000000 euros that however is only a drop in the bucket compared to what is going to be needed for european union recovery overall and that's why her pledge today this morning in a speech to parliament but also then later in a video conference with other e.u. leaders her pledge that germany is going to put more money on the table is meaningful because they're now saying that as much as a trillion euros will be needed in this recovery fund in order to ensure a recovery that benefits all of the hardest hit countries in the european south so i thi