Man and disease go hand in hand from the very early steps of human civilisation. Excavations in many Neolithic settlements across the globe reveal signs of devastating epidemics, sometimes resulting in abandoning the village altogether, or the decimation of its entire population. Yet, few epidemics turned to become pandemics raging so wildly that the final outcome was a significant change of the history of mankind.

Lockdowns, curfew, closed borders, scaled down or stopped public transport, mass quarantine, emergency measures of every kind. This is the picture all over the world in the last weeks with a few exceptions. And the most visible among them is Sweden. While all over Europe life as we know it by early March has stopped, in the Scandinavian country primary schools and borders remain open, and cafes, restaurants and shops are working. Still.

The world will never be the same once the coronavirus crisis is over. A sentence like this can be read or heard in every second analysis or interview on the topic, across the globe, on a daily basis. Few dare to enter deeper into details and elaborate on what the differences from the pre-coronavirus situation will be eventually.

As most of the cities across Europe the ‘Pearl on the Danube River’, Budapest, is a ghost city in the last weeks. The raging Covid-19 pandemic has emptied otherwise very vivid historical centre of the Hungarian capital, and has sown fear in the hearts of its citizens. But they are not afraid of the virus itself, rather of the government’s vigorous steps to use the outbreak to further cement its powers.

With more than 23,000 officially reported cases and over 1,800 deaths as of Monday afternoon, Iran is no doubt one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic. The virus has affected even the country’s leadership, including senior officials, politicians, clerics, members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and dozens of lawmakers in Iran. At least a dozen of them have died. And independent data claim the spread is far worse than officially reported.

Empty streets, reduced public transportation, checking points at the city entrances, suspended flights, few ferries to the islands. That was the picture in Greece on Monday after the government announced full lockdown in attempt to reduce the further spread of the coronavirus. “We have to protect the common good, our health,” PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said while announcing the measures. He pointed out that the lockdown is “perhaps the last step of an organised, democratic state.”

Starting from Saturday, 6 a.m, only permanent residents and supply trucks will be allowed to travel to the Aegean islands. The measure was announced on Friday by Shipping Minister Giannis Plakiotakis in a bid to ban the unnecessary movement of people within the country and halt the spread of the rampaging coronavirus.

With the start of the new year, the EU is once again confronted by the same old challenges which have haunted the Union during the last decade - migration, trade wars, Brexit, global uncertainty and the rising pressure by global giants such as the US, Russia and China. And on top of it, from the start of the year the EU will be led by its least experienced member - Croatia, while the new Commission is still to switch into a higher gear.

Emmanuel Macron wants to make it further tougher for the EU to accept new members. In a document circulated to EU governments, France said the process of EU enlargement should be more “gradual,” terms of accession more “stringent” and the process “reversible.”

Sofia will back a decision to begin accession talks, which will entail setting a date for their actual opening. However, Bulgaria's support will not be unconditional; it will have some requirements attached, which will be posed over the course of the long negotiation process. Bulgaria will insist that the Agreement on Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation signed by the two countries is observed, says Ass. Prof. Naum Kaychev, PhD, deputy co-chair of the Joint Commission on Historical and Educational Matters with North Macedonia.