Historical Speech / Merkel: Sacrifice of freedoms and rights, the most difficult decision of life

In a government statement before the Bundestag today, the German chancellor called on Germans to be patient and disciplined so as not to lose what has been achieved. Germany is ready to pay much higher for the EU

Chancellor Merkel's speech today at the rare Bundestag due to Corona was interrupted several times by applause. In the Corona crisis, she called for an end to discipline and patience. The numbers of new infections are on track, but this is an intermediate success, Merkel said. "Precisely because the figures give hope, I feel compelled to say that this intermediate result is fragile. We move in a thin layer of ice, you could even say very thin ice. We are not in the last stage but we have seen pandemics, Merkel said. This is the truth. Especially with "concentration and patience" at first we can avoid "going from one shutdown to another or isolating groups of people in May and living in terrible conditions in our hospitals," Merkel said.


In her speech, Merkel stressed that there has been no more difficult decision in her term as chancellor than the one she made for the sacrifice of some personal rights and freedoms. This pandemic is an overload for democracy, Merkel said. But strong restrictions are needed. They are necessary to protect the life and dignity of every human being. Merkel criticized the German states that after the agreement between the federation and the states each followed their own path, such as forcing the mask to be worn.

Europe - our common destiny

Europe and the crisis in which Corona is leading European Union countries were also the focus of the German chancellor's speech. Merkel said that in the next two years, larger sums will be needed in the European budget for other countries to recover. Economic programs will have to give impetus to the European economy. We are a community that is bound by common destiny and we must show this these days of pandemic. "Europe is not Europe if it does not understand itself as Europe and if it does not help in emergencies," Merkel said. We should not have illusions, it will be a long difficult period.

Merkel spoke out against common debts in the EU to cope with the crisis. Even if it is a political will, it is up to the parliaments of the member states to decide on the granting of part of the EU budgetary competencies. But "this would be a time-consuming process, not a straightforward one."