Germany announces a massive economic stimulus while Austria reopens its borders – but not to Italy. Here’s the latest from Europe:
After marathon talks with coalition partners, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel unveiled a €130 billion ($146bn; £116bn) economic recovery package, including a cut in VAT to boost consumer spending and a €300 stipend per child for struggling families. Ms Merkel called it a “package for the future”
Austria has unilaterally opened its borders, with foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg describing it as a return to “pre-corona” times. But the frontier remains closed with Italy, which fully reopened all its borders on Wednesday. Foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said “individualist” approaches by different countries risked damaging the EU
The president of Spain’s Balearic Islands, Francina Armengol, has told a German newspaper group that partying tourists face a very different holiday after the virus. “We want to guarantee that holidays in Mallorca are safe,” she said. “Bucket drinks are history”
And North Macedonia is imposing a strict curfew in certain cities, running from 9pm tonight until 5am on Monday, after a recent spike in infections
