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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The EU Commission chief said Wednesday that China will send Europe 50,000 coronavirus testing kits and two million surgical masks, as the continent battles to contain the pandemic. In a phone conversation, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China was also ready to provide 200,000 respirator masks for more serious cases, Ursula von der Leyen said in a video statement. “We are ramping up our production, we are converting our production lines, […]
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — The Czech premier, whose country depends on nuclear energy and coal, said Monday the European Union should shelve its landmark green law seeking carbon neutrality as it battles the novel coronavirus. “Europe should forget about the Green Deal now and focus on the coronavirus instead,” Prime Minister Andrej Babis told reporters, without explaining how the two are connected. “Europe is now the biggest epicenter of the coronavirus in the world,” the […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno warned on Monday that under the coronavirus outbreak the European economy is experiencing the equivalent of war and that a long struggle lies ahead. “We know the virus hasn’t reached its peak. We must not kid ourselves,” Mario Centeno said ahead of a eurozone finance ministers video conference. “These are the first steps in a temporary, but long fight. Forced containment is bringing our economies to war-like […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — European Union leaders will take part in a crisis video conference Tuesday to coordinate actions to fight the spread of the coronavirus. “Containing the spread of the virus, providing sufficient medical equipment, boosting research and limiting the economic fallout is key,” tweeted European Council chief Charles Michel. The 27 EU member state leaders will hold their extraordinary summit — called by Michel — one day after the G7 holds a similar […]
by Damon WAKE BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The EU on Sunday imposed restrictions on exports of masks and other protective medical equipment as it seeks to protect its own supplies for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. Announcing the measure in an online video, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also warned that EU countries imposing border checks were threatening supply chains and increasing the risks of shortages. The move came as Germany became […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Belgium has recorded its first death from the novel coronavirus strain that is sweeping the globe, health officials said Wednesday. Maggie De Block, health minister in the caretaker federal government, said the victim was 90 years old. The ministry is to hold a news conference later in the day, but as of Tuesday Belgium had recorded 267 cases of the coronavirus strain that causes COVID-19 disease. China remains the hardest-hit country […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday pledged to mobilize “all the tools” available to the bloc to lessen the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic, which has roiled markets across the globe. After EU leaders held crisis talks by videoconference to try to coordinate their response to the epidemic, Von der Leyen sought to reassure businesses and governments spooked by the spread of the disease. Among the measures is […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — At least two staff working for the EU administration in Brussels have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and are receiving treatment, European officials said Wednesday. One case, a man working at the European Defence Agency (EDA), had returned from Italy on February 23. The second, who works in security for the European Council, is thought to have been infected in Brussels after having contact with the first man. Meetings at […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — The novel coronavirus is concerning for Europe but there is no reason for alarm, the EU’s health commissioner said on Wednesday as Italy battles the world’s third-biggest outbreak. “This is a situation of concern but we must not give in to panic,” Stella Kyriakides told reporters in Rome after meeting Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza. “In the EU we are still in containment phase, it is important to underline this,” she […]
By Marc BURLEIGH Agence France-Presse STRASBOURG, France (AFP) — European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen pleaded Wednesday to save her signature “green deal” in the longterm EU budget that has been left short by Brexit. “If we do not set aside the funds… we will simply fail to achieve a climate neutral Europe” by 2050 as planned, she told the European Parliament. Her warning was laid down a week before an extraordinary EU summit in […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Nearly 600 European citizens in China want to be repatriated because of the coronavirus epidemic, the EU said on Wednesday, as airlines began suspending flights to and from the Asian giant. “There are a number of EU citizens in China who would like to leave the country, the current number is about 600, and they cannot do so at the moment,” Janez Lenarcic, the EU commissioner for crisis management told reporters. […]
by Diana SIMEONOVA / Vessela SERGUEVA Agence France-Presse PERNIK, Bulgaria (AFP) – Forced to “live without water, in the 21st century, in a European Union country”: Bulgarian Yana Stoyanova is not bemoaning climate change, but the incompetence of the authorities which has left some 100,000 people with an acute water shortage. Accountant Stoyanova does not live in an isolated backwater, but around 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital Sofia. She is at the sharp […]
