WUACD ON WEBINARS HIGHER EDUCATION’S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IN THE ERA OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The next speaker was Dr. Neriman Hocaoglu Bahadir from Kirklareli University, Turkey. She explained the European Union or EU and COVID-19 Crisis. She started with a brief explanation about the history of the EU which was first established in 1957 and first known as the European Economic Community. The community aimed to work economically together, establish peace with each member, and construct an European identity. Dr. Bahadir also mentioned the cornerstones of the organization are Unity in Diversity, Solidarity, and Free movement. In addition, she also explained a few crises that hit the EU, such as the economic crisis, migration crisis, British exit or Brexit crisis, and COVID-19 crisis.
COVID-19 which also hit the European continent forced everyone to fight and adapt with it. To stop the virus from spreading around Europe, each EU member was free to take independent precautions since they have different health policies; schools were closed in Italy on 4 March, national lockdowns in Italy, France, and Spain, and gatherings banned in Sweden. Additionally, the border restriction also applied in the EU, and it affected its health-care supplies, it got hijacked, and higher prices due to high demand, but low in its supply. To help each European country to fight the virus, the EU activated Civil Protection Mechanism on January 28, 2020 to strengthen the cooperation between each member to fight against COVID 19 and future disasters.