Not only has the new coronavirus catapulted us out of our everyday lives, but the way the EU is handling the Covid-19 pandemic has made its inability to take action in times of crisis painfully apparent. Just as people are stranded at airports and railway stations, any hope that Europe is capable of pulling together has also been stranded in the last few weeks.

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 disease has brought about an extraordinary situation. Although the past decades have brought numerous challenges like terrorism or the climate change, the global spread of a disease for which there is neither a cure nor vaccination available is something that political leaders have no experience in tackling.

Big technology companies are getting a break from the “techlash,” but this does not mean that the monopolists are permanently off the hook. The crisis has highlighted privacy and security concerns and well as subpar labor standards in the industry. Social media face additional scrutiny for how they deal with COVID-19 related disinformation.

Italy was the first country in Europe to be affected by the Covid-19 virus. It was also the first democratic state that took measures to contain the epidemic – as it was still being called at the time, before it mutated into a pandemic. I

The Hungarian Parliament passed a new act on Monday, which gives an already authoritarian government extraordinary, dangerous powers. 

The consequences of COVID-19 for society are yet to be studied. However, we can already predict the impact of the pandemic on the situation of women in Ukraine.

The US government’s crisis management has been a disaster so far. Donald Trump has three basic tendencies, which have served him well in the past as a populist, but which will cause severe damage to the US population in this situation and may usher in the end of his political career.