Solidarity, first-hand

[kiaa]

After making a donation of protective clothing to Italian medics earlier this month, on Sunday Germany donated 7 tonnes of medical supplies to Italy, including 300 breathing machines. However, this proved to be insufficient and in view of the collapsing Italian health care, Germany began to test severely ill patients from Italy.

A couple of days ago, the first 2 critical cases were delivered by a plane of the Italian Air Force and the fight for the lives of these people is being conducted at the Leipzig University Hospital. The next Italian patients are expected to arrive at the Dresden Clinic.

In view of the situation yesterday, Bavaria also said it would accept patients from Italy, and so did Berlin today. About a week ago, patients in severe condition from France (Grand Ost) were admitted to Mannheim and other Baden-Württemberg clinics; French patients also have been transferred in special trains to Luxembourg and Switzerland.

The German Greens have offered that the German Stimulus Bank should pour over € 1 billion to rescue Italian companies.

The list of examples of real-world intra-European aid could go on very long. All of the above has been happening without much unnecessary noise and PR, without political dividends, but with an emphasis on human life.

Comments

[kiaa]

Would you rather be on your own then?

[asthfghl]

And don't forget the other lobbyist profiteering actions of the big power-brokers:
https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/bulgarian-truckers-protest-against-macron-law/

They forge new laws as they please to meet their own selfish interests, disregarding anyone else's interests, even if everyone else would suffer immensely.

Even the centrist in me, while screaming with agony from the thought, is prone to agree with the more chauvinistic voices calling for a withdrawal from this rotten union, which is united only on paper.

[dancesofthelight]

Not to be that woman, but.......the Italians literally had the same 'nothing's going to happen that ain't happening with the flu' idea that hurt the USA so bad right before reality hit them with a vengeance. The EU didn't make them act like idiots right up until reality smacked into them like a freight train, they did that to themselves. And I am no fan of the EU or Brussels, but blaming them for Italy's problems and not actually going full Eastern Bloc and sending in soldiers to make Italians quarantine or else isn't a fair criticism.

[fridi]

Cuba is helping people all around the world, even when persecuted by some authoritarian regimes. They're still doing their job, silently and diligently, without heralding it far and wide, without demanding anything in return.

Even Albania has sent medics to help Italy. That same Albania, which the Italians have viewed as a nest of dirty unwashed Neanderthals.

I'm by orders of magnitude more impressed with such selfless acts of compassion by small countries than with these loud PR operations by the big countries that somehow always end up on front page in the mainstream media, always containing the small remark that they're doing it "without much advertisement".

[dancesofthelight]

I'm glad European leaders are able to act like civilized adults.