Portugal has applied EU rules to travelers, says Costa – Coronavirus

Arriving at the European Council in Brussels, where EU heads of state and government will once again discuss coordination in dealing with the pandemic, in particular with regard to freedom of movement in the face of new variables, Antonio Costa faced the latest data. On the part of the chancellor, who said she did not take Angela Merkel’s words as criticism of Portugal, agreed that a vote should take place among the 27 countries and made sure she would apply to travelers from the UK using what the council had approved.

“We have always coordinated both flights from third countries and freedom of movement within individual member states and will continue to do so in accordance with EU decisions.”

Regarding comments by Merkel on Tuesday, who criticized the EU’s lack of common travel rules and cited the growing number of infections in Portugal that “could have been avoided” as an example, Antonio Costa said: “You are ‘absolutely right’ about the need to act,” the External Border Coordinator emphasized. That the government is complying with the guidelines agreed at the EU level.” “We did it in Portugal. I think there is a misunderstanding of what we have taken with the British [pois] We have taken upon ourselves the general recommendation of the European Union, which is to impose quarantine on countries that have passed a certain number of cases – the British were not – and on the other hand, the mandatory testing requirements requested by the British. “

Regarding the fact that the German chancellor referred to the specific case of Portugal, he thought it was “not a good criticism, he, like many people, put forward a hypothesis about the origin of this variant,” Delta said, according to a new report by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC). ) will account for 90% of COVID-19 cases in the European Union by the end of August.

Regarding the possibility of Portugal closing the border with the British or isolating travelers from the UK, the prime minister insisted that Portugal, as always, would do what was agreed in the council and “if it did, yes” because the UK “should not” It will be treated exceptionally.”

“We will discuss here in the Council what decisions we will take with regard to the entry control of people from third countries, namely the United Kingdom, and Portugal has adhered to the principle of practice, which at the level of the remainder of the presidency [do Conselho da UE]It would be particularly bad for us not to follow the agreements reached at the European level.”

Coordination among member states in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is once again one of the dominant topics at the EU Heads of State and Government Summit taking place in Brussels today until Friday, when Antonio Costa will give an assessment. The Portuguese presidency of the European Union will be the last European Council during the “Portuguese mandate”, which ends next Wednesday, June 30.