Final Word from Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Some critics of the Czech government like to say that it is mismanaging the covid crisis, with the one exception that it is very good at taking people's rights away. These critics don't dare say the same thing about the EU. Yet coordination by EU states in covid matters invariably means common crackdowns, not common respect for the fundamental right of EU citizens to free movement. The "Re-open EU" program turned out to be a way to make it almost impossible to travel from one EU country to another; then EU states agreed in essence to ban ski trips; now they have coordinated what amounts to the blockade of the UK. In each case, vague science prevailed over hallowed rights. PM Andrej Babiš said after returning from Brussels on Dec. 11 that the Council spoke about the biggest covid waves coming in Jan. and Feb. Just in time for this, a group of European scientists under the name Contain Covid-19 is calling for a synchronized pan-EU lockdown. How could Brussels resist? [ Czech Republic European Union Commission petition ]
Glossary of difficult words
invariably - in every case or on every occasion; always;
crackdown - a series of severe measures to restrict undesirable or illegal people or behavior;
hallowed - greatly revered and honored;
to resist - to withstand the action or effect of.