All Western Balkan countries reacted relatively quickly by introducing wide-ranging measures to curb the coronavirus outbreak and respond to medical and economic needs of people affected by it, Canada’s Ambassador to Montenegro, Ms Kati Csaba, assessed in an interview for Dan, a daily.
Here are the highlights of the interview with Ms Csaba…
What’s the situation now in Canada regarding the coronavirus outbreak? Has the worst passed?
Csaba: Canada recorded first coronavirus cases in January, only in Toronto and Vancouver. However, the virus quickly spread around the country, and now we record coronavirus cases in every Canada’s province, i.e. in two out of three territories. Over 60.000 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Canada, while over 4.000 people have died so far from the coronavirus.
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Measures taken across Canada aiming to flatten the Covid-19 curve paid off in the fight against the virus. We weren’t facing the outbreak in a short period of time, and our healthcare system was not overburdened. In addition, we did Covid-19 tests extensively.
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Although the situation in Canada is getting better, we still must be careful.
Has the pandemic caused some difficulties in your everyday job?
Csaba: The crisis definitely affected the work of our embassies and consulates in the countries abroad. Our network of diplomatic missions is still open, but the focus is on providing the most important services. This helped our staff, their families to stay safe – the majority of employees worked from their homes, and we managed to return our diplomats and their families to Canada. Right now, we are not sure when our embassy in Belgrade will start functioning in its full capacity.
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How did the Western Balkan countries respond to the coronavirus outbreak? Did they take all the necessary measures?
Csaba: Fortunately, the WB countries were not among the first to record the coronavirus cases on their territories once the virus emerged. They were monitoring the situation in other European countries, they gathered how serious it was and were able to prepare themselves.
In my opinion, all WB countries reacted quickly by introducing wide-ranging measures against the spread of the virus and they responded to medical and economic needs of people affected by it. Apparently, these measures have kept the number of infections and deaths low.
Experts assess a vaccine against the new coronavirus is many months away. We all have to keep following the best practice and thus avoid a potential second wave of the virus in the WB.
Do you think the world showed unity and solidarity in this difficult time?
Csaba: The Covid-19 pandemic clearly showed the importance of unity and solidarity in curbing such a global challenge to health, economic growth and overall well-being. Of course, there were some cases, especially at an early phase of the virus outbreak, when unity and solidarity were not shown.
However, we could witness a coordinated effort in this joint battle against the coronavirus recently. The European Union, EU, and various European countries provided significant aid – under many forms – to many countries, including the WB.
