When I began reporting on COVID-19 on 19th March from Slovenia, an EU-member country, it had been clear we entered a serious crisis. One day earlier, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, said in her nationwide TV address: “The situation is serious. Take it seriously… Since the Second World War, there has been no challenge to our nation that has demanded such a degree of common and united action.”
Merkel made an appeal to the citizens of Germany. I believe her call extends further. We live in a globalised world. With this crisis, it has become more apparent than ever how our lives are interconnected and that we must strive for solidarity and empathy. Citizens, big and small countries, big and small businesses have to show acts of solidarity to each other as well as to those in-between such as refugees.
This project takes place in Slovenia but it is not just about Slovenia. It is a project about Europe, about the European Union and our world. Slovenia is a multicultural country with many foreigners who come here to study, work or have a partner here. I have already collected stories from Turkish student exchange students, workers from Senegal, a family from Albania etc. In the streets, I have been encountering daily life stories, stories of workers who cannot work from home and are forced to take on the risks, and stories of people who come from abroad and are now stuck here.