Health, then freedom? How is the pandemic changing democracies?

From lockdowns to mandatory masks and covid certificates to enter entertainment and sports venues, the pandemic has caused major restrictions on civil liberties in some of the world's oldest democracies,

In the West, European countries have been particularly quick to limit fundamental freedoms in the name of fighting the coronavirus.

French President Emmanuel Macron sparked outrage this week when he said he wanted to "annoy" those who do not want to be vaccinated by "restricting their social life as much as possible".

That statement by the leader of France, which is considered a global beacon of freedom, illustrates the extent to which the pandemic has changed national priorities, the Hina agency reports.

The US has also taken aggressive steps, including closing its borders to most of the world for 20 months and making vaccinations mandatory for all federal employees and workers at large companies.

The Berlin-based human rights organization "Civil Liberties Union for Europe" warned in a report last year that measures against the unvaccinated could "exacerbate existing inequalities".

"They could create a two-class society in which some would enjoy a wide range of freedoms and rights and others would be excluded," the report said.

Persecution or protection?

At the beginning of the pandemic, governments imposed general lockdowns and curfews to prevent the spread of the virus. But in the past year, most countries have started adapting strategies by introducing digital covid certificates that prove that a person has been vaccinated.

Faced with the micron variant of the coronavirus, some governments, primarily Austria and the Netherlands, returned to a one-size-fits-all approach and ordered citizens to retreat to their homes again during the New Year celebrations.

Many countries in the world are now increasing the pressure on citizens who refuse to be vaccinated, reports Hina.

After lifting a partial lockdown last month, Austria ordered the unvaccinated to stay at home. In February, that country will be the first in Europe to introduce mandatory vaccination for most people. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that his country should conduct a "national debate" on mandatory vaccination, and the German government is thinking the same way.

The French government has proposed that France follow the example of Germany and ban non-vaccinated people from entering restaurants, cinemas and sports centers. While public support for restrictions was high at the beginning of the crisis, pandemic fatigue is causing increasing resistance to new restrictions.

The unvaccinated protest against discrimination. Thousands of people in the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Belgium and France took to the streets demonstrating against covid rules and certificates, and clashes with the police also broke out.

This dissatisfaction is exploited by parties of the extreme right, the extreme left and those who oppose interventionist policies. In Germany, the entrepreneurial Free Democrats achieved a very good result in the elections in September, as they opposed the strict lockdown in the pre-election campaign.

In France, which is facing presidential elections in April, the far-right candidates Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemur have fiercely criticized Macron's proposed vaccination certificates.

Europe has largely avoided mass uprisings by maintaining a balance between the need to protect public health and the preservation of civil liberties. French political scientist Raul Magny-Berton, who studied the covid restrictions introduced in about 40 European countries, said that France and Eastern European countries have the strictest restrictions.

His research showed that civil liberties are most respected in the oldest democracies such as Britain and Switzerland. It also showed that restrictions are milder in countries with coalition governments, such as the Netherlands, or where power is shared between the central government and the regions, as in federal Germany.