The completely different experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has created harmful geographic, intergenerational and social divisions Europe A study suggests that this may affect the politics of the African continent in the coming years.
Research conducted by the European Commission on Foreign Relations based on public opinion surveys in 12 European Union countries shows that this is a “two pandemics and two European stories”, which has caused damage to EU regions, age groups and individuals in the past 18 months. Distinctly different effects.
“Today Europe is a continent full of divided experiences: there has been a possibility of Eurozone debt crisis with 2015 immigration crisis,” said Mark Leonard, director and co-founder of ECFR and co-author of the report.
Approximately 54% of Europeans say they have not been severely affected by the pandemic, and most people in Southern and Eastern Europe report facing major personal challenges-while people in Northern and Western Europe mainly see it as a sports”.
Of those surveyed in Denmark, a full 72%, 65% in Germany, 64% in France and 63% in the Netherlands said that in the past 18 months, the coronavirus has not given them, their family members or friends Cause serious illness, bereavement or financial difficulties.
However, these figures are in sharp contrast with Eastern and Southern European countries, where Hungary (65%), Spain (64%), Portugal (61%), Poland (61%), Bulgaria (59%) and Italy (51%) reported The opposite is true.
The study also showed that there is a significant generation gap in the impact of the pandemic. Among the respondents over the age of 60 in 12 countries/regions, nearly two-thirds (64%) said they had not experienced personal impact, while 30 The proportion of respondents under the age of 43% was 43%.
There are outliers: the majority of people under the age of 30 in the two northwestern countries of France and Denmark said they were not affected by the pandemic, while the majority of the four countries in the east and south (Spain, Portugal, Hungary, and Poland) 60 People over years old say they have.
Another co-author, Ivan Krastoff, said: “The generation gap is one of the most significant differences revealed in this poll.” He added that although European governments are right to focus on saving the lives of the oldest, But it has clearly come to pay the price.
“Now is the time for policy makers to pay attention to young people’s issues,” Krastyv said. “A whole generation feels that their future is sacrificed for their parents and grandparents.”
Opinion polls show that this feeling has led to a surge of young people’s cynicism about the government’s intention to impose Covid restrictions. As many as 43% of people under the age of 30 said they were skeptical of the government’s motives.
Approximately 20% of respondents under the age of 30 said that the coronavirus lockdown was “an excuse to control the public”, while 23% of respondents believed that they were “creating a controlled appearance.” In contrast, 71% of people over 60 said they believe their goal is to stop the spread of the virus.
In all the countries surveyed, the opinion poll found that 64% of respondents generally “trusted” and believed that official decisions were driven by public safety, while about 19% of respondents were “suspicious” mainly to cover up government Incompetence and incompetence. Approximately 17% are “accusers” who believe that the main purpose of the restrictions is to increase the government’s control over people’s lives.
It found that Poland (38%), Bulgaria (50%) and France (56%) had the lowest percentages of “trust” respondents-French respondents accounted for a minority (24%), rising to 37% among supporters from afar ). Right Rassemblement National) said they believe the government’s Covid strategy is mainly aimed at controlling the public.
The data shows that there is a further significant difference between those who view the pandemic as a health crisis (most of whom believe in the government’s motives) and those who view it more as an economic disaster (generally less trusting and suspicious) .
The survey also found that only 22% of Europeans said they felt “free” in the Covid era as they thought fit, and much less than 64% said they felt free before the first major impact of the pandemic 2020 I felt it in Europe in March 2015.
The study found that among people who suffer economic consequences rather than health consequences, the percentage of people who feel “unfree” is much higher, and it is the most serious in Germany, the largest economy in the European Union. 49% of respondents said that they are not free in life Feel free again. Daily life.
The author of the report believes that this issue is important because after the pandemic, the way in which political parties are related to freedom has undergone a major shift. Many mainstream parties are busy accepting sometimes coercive central government actions, and many populist parties have become more important. Liberalism.