Eurotopics.net

Weak healthcare systems, huge slums and a lack of infrastructure: all of these factors could cause the coronavirus pandemic to explode in Africa, experts feared. So far, however, relatively few people have been infected and even fewer have died. And as mortality figures are low, there is no indication that the number of unreported cases exceeds current assessments. Commentators point to the continent's underestimated strengths.

On 9 May 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed the foundation of a European Community. His vision five years after the end of the war was to prevent armed conflict through political cooperation, initially in the coal and steel sectors. Schuman's proposal is considered the cornerstone of today's EU. Commentators take stock seventy years on.

More than 200 teams worldwide are working on a coronavirus vaccination. An international donors' conference organised by the EU gathered 7.4 billion euros to make a vaccination, medications and test materials globally available. The US and China did not participate. There is growing concern in the media that competitive thinking could hinder research efforts.