The European Union has criticised the decision of United States President to impose travel ban on 26 European countries.
The E.U. leaders lashed out at Trump’s decision saying they were not consulted, and chaos and confusion erupting at several major airports.
European Union leaders issued a rare joint statement condemning Trump’s move, saying it was taken “unilaterally and without consultation.” They also condemned attacks he made on them during an address the night before, when Trump accused the E.U. of spreading the virus in the U.S. by not imposing sufficient travel restrictions on China and elsewhere.
“The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” said a joint statement from Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, presidents of the European Commission and European Council respectively.
“The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” they added. “The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus.”
Trump announced late Wednesday he was banning travel to the U.S. for any foreign nationals who had traveled to more than two dozen European countries within the past 14 days.
The travel ban goes into effect Friday at midnight and the restrictions apply only to foreign nationals, not U.S. citizens, green card holders or the families of U.S. citizens.
