Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis participated today in the second teleconference with the Prime Ministers of seven countries that successfully addressed the first wave of the Coronavirus-pandemic (the first took place on April 24).
The second exchange of views between the Prime Ministers mainly involved discussing plans and strategies for the restart of the economy and the opening of activities, all of which their countries are gradually implementing. The eight leaders also discussed strategies for responding to a possible second wave of coronavirus.
An extensive discussion was held on the reopening of schools, which has been implemented by many of the countries participating in the group. Most of them have started from primary schools and kindergartens. Interesting in this regard is the case of Denmark, which, according to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, opened schools and kindergartens with new rules a month ago; the overall experience is positive, despite initial concerns by the parents.
In the same context, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stressed that Australia has not shut down kindergartens or primary schools, neither has it detected cases among the pupils and transmission from students to adults. For his part, the Prime Minister of Singapore stressed that schools will be among the first to open, when he restarts his country’s economy,
Particular attention was paid to tourism, as several countries are already opening or considering opening borders to their neighbours. In this context, Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined the importance of cooperation between the countries of the group, which record very few cases, with regard to the tourism industry.
The Prime Minister proposed a more comprehensive discussion between them, which will also concern specific protocols. The goal is to create “safe corridors” that will allow for the traveling of people between specific countries, following certain rules.
The teleconference was attended by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Australian Prime Minister Loong Scott.
