Coronavirus: European Union seals borders to most outsiders
Once considered as teh champion of more open borders and the wave of the future, the European Union has decided to bar travellers from outside the bloc for thirty (30) days in an unprecedented move to seal its borders amid the coronavirus crisis.
The measure is expected to apply to 26 EU states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The travel ban will affect all non-EU nationals from visiting the bloc, except long-term residents, family members of EU nationals and diplomats, cross-border and healthcare workers, and people transporting goods.
Free travel is a the norm in the Schengen area. In recent days, however, many countries have imposed full or partial border shutdowns in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This prompted the EU to propose that the bloc act in a more unified fashion and restrict entry to the union as a whole, at the urging of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The ban came as deaths continued to soar in Italy and Spain, and France began a strict lockdown.
KJ