January 22 According to a report by the “Central News Agency”, on the 21st local time, EU leaders “strongly discouraged” Europeans from traveling under unnecessary circumstances and warned that stricter travel restrictions may be imposed in the next few days if insufficient efforts to curb the epidemic are insufficient.
According to reports, European Council President Michelle and European Commission President von der Leyen issued the above warning after a videoconference with the heads of government of the 27 countries of the European Union.
Von der Leyen said at the press conference that it is strongly recommended to avoid all non-essential travel at home and across borders.
Michelle said that more restrictions may be necessary to restrict non-essential travel.
Both EU senior officials said that they would further strengthen cooperative anti-epidemic actions “in the next few days”.
Von der Leyen said that “it is absolutely important to maintain the operation of the EU single market”, so labor and goods can cross the border sustainably.
“Only targeted measures will curb the virus, and practices such as a complete closure of borders are not superfluous.
They will seriously damage our economy, but the effect of curbing the virus is not very effective,” she said.
However, in order to avoid the closure of the border in the passport-free Schengen area within the EU, EU leaders agreed that testing must be strengthened.
From January 24, any traveler from outside the European Union will be tested for the novel coronavirus before departure, von der Leyen said.
Within the EU, some countries will require a prior screening of cross-border travellers who do not belong to the necessary categories.
