India, May 24 -- The strength and unity of the historic European Union (EU) may be history soon. With the Covid-19 pandemic, many of its member nations would find it difficult to be even in the union itself. It's not only the current crisis, but also a sustained economic downturn since the setback of 2009 that could finally push the survival of the EU to the brink.

The coronavirus pandemic has pitted the members of the EU against one another. For example, by early March, Germany, one of the few nations in Europe to manufacture medical masks, immediately cancelled plans to export these protective gears to fellow countries. This badly affected Italy which was then in the midst of Covid-19 attack. Then the worst was the fighting between two...