Leaders of Germany, France urge vigilance over virus variant

The leaders of Germany and France called for vigilance Friday to prevent the spread of a coronavirus variant that this week prompted Britain to delay the planned relaxation of pandemic restrictions in England.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that while Germany has suprisingly low amounts of new COVID-19 infections at the moment, the “aggressive” delta variant could bring about a growth in new cases.

“We can’t pretend that corona has ended,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

“Even though there’s a sense on such a warm summer’s evening that it’s around, you can see from the exemplory case of Lisbon that things can easily change,” she said. “That’s why I think it’s essential to be careful, to ensure that we have a summer with many freedoms however, not yet all freedoms.”

Portuguese authorities on Thursday banned travel in or out of the capital region over coming weekends in response to a spike in delta variant cases. Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed back the date for lifting restrictions on social contacts by four weeks as the federal government reported a large number of newly confirmed cases, mostly with the delta variant.

Asked about travel linked to the Euro2020 soccer tournament, Merkel it had been good to see a large number of fans at the recent Germany-France match in Munich again.

“However when I see completely full stadiums in other Europe, then I’m a little skeptical whether that’s the right answer to the existing situation,” she said - a mention of Hungary, where authorities have allowed games without limiting spectator numbers.

Merkel spoke before an operating dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, the first time she's hosted a foreign leader in Germany since last year.

Macron said it had been important to be vigilant and the European Union would discuss at an upcoming summit how to better harmonize travel restrictions during the pandemic - something the bloc has struggled to accomplish more than a year after the start of outbreak.

EU countries have administered at least one dose of vaccine to roughly half of their populations, while greater than a third have obtained both shots. Britain, which left the bloc this past year, includes a higher vaccination rate.

Apart from the pandemic, next week’s EU summit may also address foreign policy issues such as the bloc’s relationships with Russia and Turkey, and the continuing future of its common defense and security policy.

Macron welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden’s commitment to NATO.

“I think we succeeded in establishing the theory that European defense and EU strategic autonomy isn't an alternative to the trans-Atlantic organization, but a good element of it,” Macron said of the recent meetings with Biden at the Group of Seven and NATO.

Merkel concurred. “We can all be glad that (Biden) has created a climate of cooperation again, in which everyone of course has their role to play,” she said.

“But I see an absolute necessity - and this is something I believe america expects - that we act coherently, that people say which regions of work we can undertake and which contribution we can make.”