Angela Merkel has set off a backlash among the EU27 after she was accused of letting the eurozone crumble under the coronavirus pandemic. The German Chancellor was one of the few EU leaders who declined pleas from hard-hit countries like Italy and Spain for so-called corona-bonds that would help soften the economic blow of the pandemic. Economist Marcel Fratzscher, President of research institute DIW, warned that such a bold move risked the collapse of the entire eurozone.