Travel into 27 European countries shuts down as a consequence of the coronavirus.
The heads of state and government in the EU agreed at a meeting Tuesday evening to ban non-essential travel into the bloc for 30 days. The ban applies to citizens of non-EU member states. Citizens of five countries are exempt. President of the European Council Charles Michel confirms the decision at a press conference, after the EU's heads of state and government met over video conference. The decision is explained by the union's desire to curb the spread of coronavirus, which for weeks has been grabbing hold of Europe. Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the UK are not covered by the travel restrictions. Sweden closes borders The restrictions in the EU come less than a week after US President Donald Trump banned all incoming travel from continental Europe to the US for 30 days to prevent the coronavirus from spreading. At Tuesday's meeting, EU countries also had a difficult discussion on their internal borders in the wake of some member states implementing restrictions, says EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "It was an intense discussion. It was clear that we must take great care of our inner market. It is the most important instrument we have in our economy, and it is of the highest importance that we keep the inner market open," she says. The most recent EU country to close its borders is Sweden, which shut down Tuesday evening for 30 days until further notice. Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday warned his colleagues in other EU countries that the coronavirus is causing a "socioeconomic tsunami" across Europe, according to a government source. He warned that no EU country would go untouched by this "tsunami" and urges economic assistance. A long-planned summit in Brussels scheduled for next week will be held as a video conference, the countries agreed on Tuesday.
This post originally appeared on AM Watch.
