Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international relations
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected international relations and has caused diplomatic tensions, as well as resulted in a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a global ceasefire.
[12][13][14] European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that "China is aggressively pushing the message that, unlike the US, it is a responsible and reliable partner.
[22][23][24] Jean Rottner, the President of France's Regional Council of Grand Est, accused the United States of disrupting face mask deliveries by buying at the last minute.
[30] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that it would be a mistake for both their countries to limit trade of essential goods or services, including medical supplies and professionals, and remarked that this moves in both directions.
[34] A Reuters 2024 report revealed that the United States government launched a covert propaganda and disinformation campaign that aimed to erode Filipinos' trust in vaccines developed by China and Russia amidst tense US-Philippine relations under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who sought closer ties with the two countries.
[35] The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that "If we don't propose now a unified, powerful and effective response to this economic crisis, not only the impact will be tougher, but its effects will last longer and we will be putting at risk the entire European project", while the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte commented that "the whole European project risks losing its raison d'être in the eyes of our own citizens".
[41] Nine EU countries—Italy, France, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Luxembourg—called for "corona bonds" (a type of eurobond) in order to help their countries to recover from the epidemic, on 25 March.
"[42][43] Northern European countries such as Germany, Austria, Finland, and the Netherlands oppose the issuing of joint debt, fearing that they would have to pay it back in the event of a default.
[44][45] Corona bonds were discussed on 26 March 2020 in a European Council meeting, which dragged out for three hours longer than expected due to the "emotional" reactions of the prime ministers of Spain and Italy.
After promulgating the law, the President of Hungary, János Áder, announced that he had concluded that the time frame of the Government's authorization would be definite and its scope would be limited.
In response, Viktor Orbán expressed his willingness to discuss any issues relating to Fidesz's membership "once the pandemic is over" in a letter addressed to the Secretary General of EPP Antonio López-Istúriz White.
[63] On 14 May 2020, fifty-two of the fifty-seven deputies of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica signed a letter addressed to the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, in which they expressed their "concern" for the situation of the pandemic by COVID-19 in Nicaragua, calling for "forceful and urgent measures to be taken in this regard" in the neighboring country, and, at the same time, warning that Nicaragua's response could have negative effects on the rest of the Central American countries.
[66] To some, health diplomacy provided the opportunity to create narratives of friends and enemies in an attempt to win the hearts and minds of foreign audiences.
On 1 July 2020, the UN Security Council passed resolution S/RES/2532 (2020), demanding a "general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on its agenda," expressing support for "the efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General and his Special Representatives and Special Envoys in that respect," calling for "all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause" of at least 90 consecutive days, and calling for greater international cooperation to address the pandemic.
Even in countries where conflict intensity declined, such as Afghanistan or Colombia, rebels attempt to gain new followers by implementing their own pandemic response or by recruiting unemployed youth.
[76] Another study on global conflict trends detects a temporary decline in protest events after the first wave of lockdowns in March and April 2020 for around six months.
Battles events, by contrast, did not decline and even increased in some countries (such as Libya) because armed groups aimed to exploit pandemic-related weaknesses of their opponents.
