BRUSSELS: The European Union said on Thursday it disapproved of the U.S. decision to improve a unilateral travel ban on European countries, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Council president Charles Michel said in a statement.
“The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to improve a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” the statement said, adding that the EU is taking “strong” measures to limit the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sweeping measures to prevent people from 26 European countries from traveling to the country as he responded to mounting pressure to take action against the spread of the coronavirus. Here are the details on the travel curbs:
The limits will last 30 days and go into effect at midnight on Friday.
They apply to foreign nationals who have been in the Schengen Area, 26 countries in Europe, in the last 14 days.
The Schengen Area countries comprise: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said Thursday the travel ban imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump prohibiting trips from most of mainland Europe was not right. Sunak, in media interviews a day after he presented a “coronavirus budget” in the House of Commons, said Britain would not be following the U.S. decision.–Agencies
