"Regions have been facing huge challenges to fight the corona virus, both in terms of health as well as the economic dimensions, but EPP-led villages, cities and regions have been taking various measures and offering solutions." Olgierd Geblewicz, President of the Westpomeranian Region and President of EPP-CoR Group made these remarks during a chat organised by the EPP to discuss the corona virus pandemic and its impacts, live on Instagram. Geblewicz said that the EPP-COR had created a webpage sharing good practices from regions across Europe to overcome the crisis quicker and more efficiently. He warned that if we do not support SMEs quickly they will have to close and jobs will be lost stressing that tapping of EU funds must involve less bureaucracy.
Geblewicz said that regional authorities in Poland are responsible for health, so they are at the frontline fighting the virus. "We are working to supply hospitals with all equipment and frontliners with personal protective equipment. On the other hand, we need to think about our economy. Tourism is a major economic sector for my region which has been harshly hit." He added that several Polish citizens work across the border in Germany so restrictions to cross borders across regions had also been painful for the economy.
Geblewicz criticised the Polish government accusing it of being more interested in the Presidential elections rather than fighting the corona virus. "Freedom of speech in Poland is also a problem when it comes to the corona virus with the Ministry for health attempting to prevent health professionals from commenting on the pandemic". Geblewicz criticised the government for tempering with the democratic process saying that this is no time for elections when no electoral campaign to inform the electorate could take place due to social distancing measures.
If you missed this morning’s Instagram chat. You can now follow the discussion here👇👇👇
https://youtu.be/FlbxQZ_10pQ