As the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak in Germany approaches, Bundestags Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt has called for a thorough and unbiased analysis of the pandemic’s political handling. “We need an unflinching examination, without further polarization” the Green Party politician told the “Stern” magazine.
Göring-Eckardt proposed the establishment of a citizens’ council to oversee the pandemic’s aftermath and prepare for future pandemics. She also suggested creating a central memorial site for the victims of the pandemic, describing it as “a place of containment, of remembrance, of grief and of hope.”
In her remarks, Göring-Eckardt also expressed self-criticism, acknowledging that the government’s initial response to the virus was inadequate. “We didn’t know how to handle the virus back then and we had to act. Mistakes were made and most of all, children suffered greatly under the measures” she said. “They lost an irretrievable part of their childhood.”
Earlier, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had also called for an examination of the pandemic’s political handling after the upcoming federal election. “If a new government and a new Bundestag fail to take on this task, I will do so” Steinmeier told the “Stern” magazine. He threatened to establish a commission of his own if necessary, stating that an examination would provide an opportunity to win back people who have lost trust in democracy, or at the very least, to make them question it.