European Union criticizes US-imposed travel suspension

The European Union (EU) criticized on Thursday, the unilateral decision of Donald Trump to restrict travel from Europe to the United States because of the coronavirus , saying that the disease does not respect borders.

Trump announced on Wednesday night the suspension of all flights between the United States and Europe for 30 days, counting from Friday, 13. Later, the American authorities clarified that the restrictions apply to foreigners who were in the regions of Europe that do not have passport control in the 14 days prior to arrival in the American territory.

"The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel restriction was taken unilaterally and without consultation," said the President of the Council of the European Union, Charles Michel and the president of the bloc's Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a joint statement.

"Coronavirus is a global crisis, it is not limited to any continent and requires cooperation and not unilateral action," they said.

Michel and Von der Leyen even countered Trump's insinuations that Europe is not doing enough to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. According to them, the EU "is taking significant actions to limit the spread of the virus".

"Nationalism is not the answer to Covid-19, because viruses don't care about borders or nationalities," said Liberal MEP and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.

In a previous tweet, Michel, who coordinates the work of the bloc's presidents, assured that the EU will assess the situation on Thursday, warning that Trump's decision could imply an "economic disturbance".

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 17,000 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Europe, and more than 700 people have died on the continent. Every day, about 400 flights cross the Atlantic from Europe towards the United States, according to FlightAware flight tracker.