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EU urges border health checks as virus case count mounts EU urges border health checks as virus case count mounts
(about 7 hours later)
BRUSSELS — The European Union urged member countries Friday to put health screening procedures in place at their borders to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus but said they must coordinate the effort so people can still quickly get the medical care they need. BRUSSELS — The European Union urged member countries Friday to put health screening procedures in place at their borders to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus but said they must coordinate so people can still quickly get the medical care they need.
The virus is now present in all 27 EU countries. More than 22,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed across Europe, and more than 1,000 people so far have died on the continent. With Italy reporting the most virus cases and deaths anywhere in the world except China, the pandemic is increasingly wearing on the EU’s cherished core principle, which envisions a border-free Europe where citizens can freely live, work and travel.
With Italy at the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak, neighboring Austria, Slovenia and non-EU country Switzerland moved to restrict traffic at their borders, raising questions about the movement of food and medical equipment. But others, like the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, are taking action too. Spain is set to declare a state of emergency for two weeks. Countries that border Italy, including Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland have moved to reintroduce border controls and restrict traffic from outside. But several other EU nations, including Poland, Slovakia and Cyprus, announced restrictions that go far beyond travelers from Italy.
“What we can do, and what we should do, is to carry out health screening measures,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Poland’s prime minister said that starting at midnight Saturday, the country’s borders with all its neighbors would be closed and all foreigners denied entry unless they lived in Poland or had personal ties there. Non-citizens who are let in will be quarantined for 14 days.
Slovakia took similar action. An entry ban on foreign nationals in Cyprus only excepts European citizens if they live or work in the ethnically divided island nation. President Nicos Anastasiades said foreigners would also be prohibited from entering Cyprus’ internationally recognized south from the breakaway north.
More than 22,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed across Europe, and nearly 1,300 people with the virus have died on the continent. Earlier Friday, the EU’s executive commission recommended coordinated border health screenings as a way to address infections.
“We’ve seen travel bans and controls being put in place in a number of member states,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “Certain controls may be justified, but general travel bans are not seen as being the most effective by the World Health Organization. Moreover, they have a strong social and economic impact. They disrupt people’s lives and business across the borders.”
To avoid a patchwork of national policies that cause economic harm and are ineffective in guarding public health, “any measure that is taken must be proportionate” and coordinated with Brussels, she said.
Preliminary checks for signs of infection could be done at borders between the 26 nations that make up the passport-free Schengen Area, but also at the EU’s external borders and within individual countries, von der Leyen said.Preliminary checks for signs of infection could be done at borders between the 26 nations that make up the passport-free Schengen Area, but also at the EU’s external borders and within individual countries, von der Leyen said.
The ID-check free area is a jewel in Europe’s crown. Besides smoothing travel arrangements, it allows businesses and transportation to move easily across borders of the countries within the Schengen zone, which share common security standards. The EU’s executive commission polices the zone’s rules. The ID check-free area, which includes many EU members but also non-members like Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, is a jewel in Europe’s crown. Besides smoothing travel arrangements, it allows businesses and transportation to move easily across borders of the countries within the zone.
“In the last few hours, we’ve seen travel bans and controls being put in place in a number of member states,” von der Leyen told reporters. “Certain controls may be justified, but general travel bans are not seen as being the most effective by the World Health Organization. Moreover, they have a strong social and economic impact, they disrupt people’s lives and business across the borders.” “Member states, especially neighboring ones, need to work very closely together,” von der Leyen said. “In this way, and it’s the only way, we can make sure that our citizens receive the health care that they need immediately wherever they are.”
“Any measure that is taken must be proportionate” and coordinated with Brussels, she said. “Member states, especially neighboring ones, need to work very closely together. In this way, and it’s the only way, we can make sure that our citizens receive the health care that they need immediately wherever they are.” The screening recommendations were put to the interior ministers of EU member nations Friday as they try to build a unified response to the virus. The bloc’s institutions have a very limited role to play in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health screening recommendations were discussed by EU interior ministers Friday as they sought to build a unified response to the virus. The bloc’s institutions have a very limited role to play in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and individual countries are responsible for their own health and public safety policies. The European Commission led by von der Leyen polices the Schengen Area’s rules, but individual countries are responsible for their own health and public safety policies.
“The problem is on different levels in different countries,” Swedish Interior Minister Mikael Damberg told reporters, but he said “we hope that all countries that take new measures also inform other European countries.” “The problem is on different levels in different countries,” Swedish Interior Minister Mikael Damberg told reporters. “We hope that all countries that take new measures also inform other European countries.”
“The transportation system must work when it comes to food and to health care materials and these kinds of things that are important to all European countries so that we don’t make problems for each other handling the crisis,” Damberg said.“The transportation system must work when it comes to food and to health care materials and these kinds of things that are important to all European countries so that we don’t make problems for each other handling the crisis,” Damberg said.
Homes Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said that on the EU’s borders to the outside world medical checks could be carried out at the same time as routine ID checks are done. Any people showing coronavirus symptoms could be barred from entering, or placed in quarantine, she said. Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, who is chairing the talks because his country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said, “This crisis shows that as a European Union we need to have models to act in a more coordinated way.”
She also said that EU nations, if they wish, could decide individually or in groups to ban people from certain at-risk countries from entering. “If we are acting in one way, it would be much better for all of us,” he said.
When it comes to internal Schengen borders, member countries must inform the commission within 10 days if they reintroduce systematic border checks for unforeseen public safety reasons. But Johansson suggested a temporary way around this. The ministers were also expected to discuss the 30-day U.S. travel ban on people coming t from inside the Schengen Area. The measure announced by U.S. President Donald Trump don’t apply to the United Kingdom, Ireland or any of the Balkan countries.
“It’s always possible for a member state to have health checks. If they introduce health checks, it is not seen as an internal border control,” she told reporters. “So they do not have to notify the commission on that, so they can always do that.” EU leaders expressed disapproval of the action, saying they should have been consulted and that a disease of pandemic proportions knows no borders.
Johansson said the commission would publish its border and health guidelines soon. “I hope Mr. Trump understands that you can’t make a deal with a virus,” said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
Brussels also said that it will set up a 37-billion euro ( $41-billion) investment fund and allow “maximum flexibility” on state aid and fiscal rules to help member states weather the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency directed airlines across the EU to disinfect planes after each flight or within 24 hours after departure from “a high-risk airport.”
In addition to loosening the rules constraining public spending, von der Leyen said the European budget will guarantee eight billion euros in liquidity for small and medium companies affected by the crisis.
“The virus is not only dangerous for our health, it is also hitting our economies. It is a major shock for the global and European economy. We have to take decisive and bold action now, on all levels,” she said.
Many EU meetings have been canceled due to the virus, and Friday’s was among the rare exceptions. Two ministerial sessions, between health and justice ministers, were held via video-conference this week. Italy’s envoy to the EU called on the bloc to cancel all meetings and hold only video-conferences from Monday.
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Frank Jordans in Berlin and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.