10 Apr, 2024
People across the world have felt the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis on their daily lives and on their societies. Anders Adlercreutz, a member of parliament of the ALDE Party member SFP in Finland, summarises the impact of COVID-19 on global politics and on his work as a lawmaker in the latest episode of our US – ‘Unique Stories of Liberals’ video series.
“We talk about the butterfly effect: when a butterfly flaps its wings far away, it can have an impact on everything. Now we learn that a disease in China can affect the whole world. As a global community, real global problems, such as biodiversity loss, climate change, they will affect us all and they need the response from all of us. And I think that is a big lesson learnt during this pandemic,” Adlercreutz says.
The crisis has also brought up a range of responses within the EU27, with many countries closing their borders. But – as Adlercreutz cautions – the free flow of information and people is essential for developing the Union, and we should not underestimate the potential negative effects of closed borders for the bloc.
The ongoing pandemic has had a big impact on politics and on Adlercreutz’s work as a lawmaker:
“Politics is really about communicating, about interacting. We want to meet people, we want to hear their stories, we want to learn from people. And now during the pandemic, we really haven’t been able to do that in the same way as earlier. […]”
Moreover, as an architect by training, Adlercreutz shares how this has influenced his career as politician.
“I went to architecture because I wanted to make an impact on society. I wanted to have an impact on peoples’ lives. Makes their lives better, make society better make society more sustainable. And now I want to use that knowledge to be an efficient politician” he says.
You can find this new episode as well as the previous episodes on our Youtube channel – don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of all upcoming episodes in the series!
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