1 Attachment(s)
‘Socio-economic tsunami’ grips EU
Reuters, Brussels/Rome
Italy calls for 'coronavirus bonds' bailout
EU leaders agree to shut external borders
UK and Ireland to remain out of border plan
Italy's prime minister declared coronavirus was causing a "socio-economic tsunami" as European leaders agreed to seal off external borders, but many countries thwarted solidarity by imposing frontier curbs of their own.
"The enemy is the virus and now we have to do our utmost to protect our people and to protect our economies," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the second videoconference in a week of the European Union's 27 leaders.
"We are ready to do everything that is required. We will not hesitate to take additional measures as the situation evolves."
The call came as global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic crossed 8,000 mark yesterday. The number of cases also jumped to 200,680, according to an AFP tally.
The worst affected countries are mainland China, with 3,237 deaths, out of 80,894 cases, of whom 69,601 have been cured. Italy follows with 2,503 deaths, 31,506 cases, Iran 1,135 deaths, around 17,000 cases, Spain 558 deaths and 13,716 cases and France with 175 deaths and 7,730 cases.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose country has been hardest hit by a global health crisis now centred in Europe, said no nation would be left untouched by the "tsunami".
He called for special "coronavirus bonds", or a European guarantee fund, to help member states finance urgent health and economic policies, an Italian government source said.
Rome has issued similar calls for joint EU funding during previous crises, usually running into opposition from the bloc's most powerful economy and paymaster, Germany.
Asked about Conte's proposal, Chancellor Angela Merkel said euro zone finance ministers would continue discussing ways to help their economies cushion the impact, but no decision has been made.
The EU has scrambled to find a coherent response to the outbreak, with countries imposing their own border checks in what is normally a zone of control-free travel, limiting exports of medical equipment or failing to share key data swiftly.
The national leaders agreed on Tuesday to close the external borders of most European countries for 30 days and establish fast-track lanes at their countries' frontiers to keep medicines and food moving.
Ireland will not join the travel ban on Europe's borders, von der Leyen said, because the United Kingdom - which left the EU in January - was not either. Despite Brexit, the two have an obligation to preserve an open border on the island of Ireland.
Should Ireland go with the majority of European countries while the UK stays away, it would mean erecting controls on the sensitive border with Northern Ireland, something sides sought to avoid at all cost in three years of tortuous Brexit divorce talks.
France went into lockdown on Tuesday to contain the spread of the highly contagious new coronavirus and Belgium announced it would follow suit, as the death toll jumped in the continent, European banks warned of falling incomes and pummelled airlines pleaded for government aid.
The EU's executive European Commission warned member states that this was just the beginning of the crisis and Germany said it would run for "months rather than weeks", diplomats said.
The EU has also moved to repatriate Europeans stranded abroad as airlines cut flights. Von der Leyen said nearly 300 Austrian and other European nationals were flown back from Morocco to Vienna on Tuesday.
Their border control steps aside, the EU leaders have come together on a "whatever it takes" approach to cushioning the economic blow from the pandemic, including by relaxing limitations on state aid.
