Virus crisis is EU's biggest test since its founding: Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Reuters photo)

The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest test that the European Union has faced in its history, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday, stressing that Germany is "ready to contribute" to boosting the bloc.

"In my view... the European Union stands before the biggest test since its founding," Merkel told journalists ahead of a key eurozone finance ministers' conference to draw up an economic rescue plan for the bloc.