Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels – Image byRonn Aldaman
Europe’s covid-19 experience has been a tale of two pandemics – and the differences in each story could haunt the continent for many years to come. The European Council on Foreign Relations’ newest poll of citizens’ views in the time of the coronavirus reveals that most people who live in the north and west of Europe feel unaffected by covid-19 in a direct sense; for many of them, the virus has been more of a gruesome spectator sport than a shattering lived experience. But, in eastern and southern Europe, most people say they have been directly affected by bereavement, serious illness, or economic distress.
