Virus is EU’s biggest test since its founding: Merkel

BERLIN: The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest test that the European Union has faced in its history, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday, stressing that Germany is “ready to contribute” to boosting the bloc. “In my view... the European Union stands before the biggest test since its founding,” Merkel told journalists ahead of a key eurozone finance ministers´ conference to draw up an economic rescue plan for the bloc. “Everyone is just as affected as the other, and therefore, it is in everyone´s interest, and it is in Germany´s interest for Europe to emerge strong from this test. Discussions between EU leaders over what a possible aid package would consist of have been fraught with nations hardest hit in the health crisis pitted against economically stronger countries.