In the face of the coronavirus pandemic that has now spread to 152 countries, the leaders of the European Union (EU) agreed on a ban on foreigners entering the European bloc for 30 days. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the proposal was widely supported by member-states and that it is “up to them now to implement. They said they will immediately do that.”
The proposed ban would extend not only to the EU nations but the entire EU+ area, which includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, and the UK as well.
Last week, Henri P. Kluge, Europe’s regional director for the World Health Organization (WHO), declared, “Europe is the epicenter of the first pandemic of coronavirus and every country, with no exceptions, need to take their boldest actions to stop or slow down the virus spread.”
There are more than 50,00 cases in Europe and more than 2,000 deaths, with the majority of cases in Italy. In fact, six of the top 10 most affected countries are in Europe: Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK.
The European Commission is hopeful that a ban on non-Europeans entering the continent will “enable the lifting of internal border control measures” by resulting in the bloc’s countries removing travel restrictions on other European nations. Officials are highly concerned about the impact of internal travel restrictions on the Single Market integration between European countries.
IMAGE SOURCE: EUROPEAN UNIONEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen