EU May Ban Travel from US as it Reopens Borders, Citing Coronavirus Failures
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
EU May Ban Travel from US as it Reopens Borders, Citing Coronavirus Failures
BRUSSELS — European Union countries rushing to revive their economies and reopen their borders after months of coronavirus restrictions are prepared to block Americans from entering because the United States has failed to control the scourge, according to draft lists of acceptable travelers seen by The New York Times.
That prospect, which would lump American visitors in with Russians and Brazilians as unwelcome, is a stinging blow to American prestige in the world and a repudiation of President Trump's handling of the virus in the United States, which has more than 2.3 million cases and upward of 120,000 deaths, more than any other country.
European nations are currently haggling over two potential lists of acceptable visitors based on how countries are faring with the coronavirus pandemic. Both include China, as well as developing nations like Uganda, Cuba and Vietnam.
Travelers from the United States and the rest of the world have been excluded from visiting the European Union — with few exceptions mostly for repatriations or "essential travel" —- since mid-March. But a final decision on reopening the borders is expected early next week, before the bloc reopens on July 1.
A prohibition of Americans by Brussels partly reflects the shifting pattern of the pandemic. In March, when Europe was the epicenter, Mr. Trump infuriated European leaders when he banned citizens from most European Union countries from traveling to America. Mr. Trump justified the move as necessary to protect the United States, which at the time had roughly 1,100 coronavirus cases and 38 deaths.
In late May and early June, Mr. Trump said Europe was "making progress" and hinted that some restrictions would be lifted soon, but nothing has happened since then. Today, Europe has largely curbed the outbreak, even as the United States, the worst-afflicted, has seen more infection surges just in the past week..
Prohibiting American travelers from entering the European Union would have significant economic, cultural and geopolitical ramifications. Millions of American tourists visit Europe every summer. Business travel is common, given the huge economic ties between the United States and the E.U.
The draft lists were shared with the Times by an official involved in the talks and confirmed by another official involved in the talks. Two additional European Union officials confirmed the content of the lists as well the details of the negotiations to shape and finalize them. All of the officials gave the information on condition of anonymity because the issue is politically delicate.
The forging of a common list of outsiders who can enter the bloc is part of an effort by the European Union to fully reopen internal borders among its 27 member states. Free travel and trade among members is a core principle of the bloc — one that has been badly disrupted during the pandemic.
Since the outbreak, the bloc has succumbed to piecemeal national policies that have resulted in an incoherent patchwork of open and closed borders.
Some internal borders have practically remained closed while others have opened. Some member states that desperately need tourists have rushed ahead to accept non-E.U. visitors and pledged to test them on arrival. Others have tried to create closed travel zones between certain countries, called "bubbles" or "corridors."
Putting these safe lists together highlights the fraught, messy task of removing pandemic-related measures and unifying the bloc's approach. But the imperatives of restoring the internal harmony of the E.U. and slowly opening up to the world is paramount, even if it threatens rifts with close allies including the United States, which appears bound to be excluded, at least initially.
President Trump, as well as his Russian and Brazilian counterparts, Vladimir V. Putin and Jair Bolsonaro, have followed what critics call a comparable path in their pandemic response that leaves all three countries in a similarly bad spot: they were dismissive at the outset of the crisis, slow to respond to scientific advice and saw a boom of domestic cases as other parts of the world, notably in Europe and Asia, were slowly managing to get their outbreaks under control.
Countries on the E.U. draft lists have been selected as safe based on a combination of epidemiological criteria. The benchmark is the E.U. average number of new infections — over the past 14 days — per 100,000 people, which is currently 16 for the bloc. The comparable number for the United States is 107, while Brazil's is 190 and Russia's is 80, according to a Times database.
Once diplomats agree on a final list, it will be presented as a recommendation early next week before July 1. The E.U. can't force members to adopt it, but European officials warn that failure of any of the 27 members to stick to it could lead to the reintroduction of borders within the bloc.
The reason this exercise is additionally complex for Europe is that, if internal borders are open but member states don't honor the same rules, visitors from nonapproved nations could land in one European country, and then jump onward to other E.U. nations undetected.
European officials said the list would be revised every two weeks to reflect new realities around the world as nations see the virus ebb and flow.
The process of agreeing on it has been challenging, with diplomats from all European member states hunkering down for multiple hourslong meetings for the past few weeks.
As of Tuesday, the officials and diplomats were poring over two versions of the safe list under debate, and were scheduled to meet again on Wednesday to continue sparring over the details.
One list contains 47 countries and includes only those nations with an infection rate lower than the E.U. average. The other longer list has 54 countries and also includes those nations with slightly worse case rates than the E.U. average, going up to 20 new cases per 100,000 people.
The existing restrictions on nonessential travel to all 27 member states plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein were introduced on March 16 and extended twice until July 1, in a bid to contain the virus as the continent entered a three-month long confinement.
"Discussions are happening very intensively," to reach consensus in time for July 1, said Adalbert Jahnz, a spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc's executive branch. He called the process "frankly, a full-time job."
The E.U. agency for infectious diseases, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, warned negotiators that the case numbers were so dependent on the level of truthfulness and testing in each country, that it was hard to vouch for them, officials taking part in the talks said.
China, for example, has been accused of withholding information and manipulating the numbers of infections released to the public. In parts of the developing world, case numbers are very low, but it's hard to determine whether they paint an accurate picture given limited testing.
And in the United States, comments made by President Trump at a rally in Tulsa over the weekend highlighted how easy it is to manipulate a country's case numbers, as he suggested that domestic testing was too broad.
"When you do testing to that extent, you're gonna find more people you're gonna find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down, please," Mr. Trump told supporters.
European embassies around the world could be enlisted to help verify or opine on the data provided that would inform the final list, negotiators said, another indication that the list could end up being quite short if European diplomats at embassies said reported numbers were unreliable.
Many European Union countries are desperate to reopen their borders to visitors from outside the region to salvage tourism and boost airlines' revenue while keeping their own borders open to each other. Some have already started accepting visitors from outside the bloc.
At the other extreme, a few European nations including Denmark are not prepared to allow any external visitors from non-E.U. countries, and are likely to continue with this policy after July 1.
Germany, France and many other E.U. nations want non-European travelers to be allowed, but are also worried about individual countries tweaking the safe list or admitting travelers from excluded countries, officials said.
Tags
Who is online
94 visitors
I don't blame them.
Neither do I
So happy you are back!
Thank-you! I'm currently scratching at my peeling skin
Don't you mean scales...?
Welcome back!
Correction...my scales!
Thanks!
My son was just telling me about this.
It was reported on CNN a little while ago. I was waiting for an article to pop up.
One thing is certain: Trump is going to have a flaming snit, and embarrass the entire country.
Indeed he may. They have to do what they think is best for them.
That would make him a total hypocrite (what else is new) as he has banned people from China from coming here for the same reason.
What goes around comes around!
Yes.
In fact " Many People " are starting to call him a "whiny bitch"!
He was born that way.
That should get their economy going !
This is the perfect opportunity to threaten to end NATO and withdraw American military from all countries that actually follow trough with that
Sorry dear, but Donald Trump will never put his personal foreign financial interests in jeopardy. He can threaten, but that's where the action ends.
I have no desire to pull our Military out of the UK or The Baltic States, Poland, other old Warsaw Pact nations like Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic. They are most likely targets of Russian or German aggression. Italy is likely next after the UK to leave the EU so I’d keep a presence there.
And let Trump's Russian Puppet-master (Putin) conquer our allies by use of force?
And let Trump's Russian Puppet-master (Putin) conquer our allies by use of force?
Important enough to state twice!
Exactly!
Its yet another example of his mental condition (which , BTW, should be always referred to by its proper name: "Trump's Derangement Syndrome").
Let Europeans actually build and maintain a military large enough to defend themselves? What am I thinking! How dare I demand Europeans defend themselves while bilking the US economically!
Europe needs to be scared; and Biden is an Establishment tool. China, Europe, and Russia won't fear him at all. That is if his wife and handlers ever let him out of the basement long enough to be sworn in should he win the election.
I didn't think we had troops in Poland, the Baltic States, or any of the old Warsaw Pact countries.
Need to think back and ponder your statement. West Germany took delivery of the Pershing II missiles, much against what the civilian government wanted. West Germany knew that if things went bad, their country was going to be obliterated from end to end. The Fulda Gap. One of the most heavily fortified areas in all of Europe.
Cut the Germans some slack as they were on the front line of the Cold War from day one.
We do, just not in the numbers they were back in the 1980s. There is still quite a bit of "hardward" forward deployed there too.
We had actual troops in Warsaw Pact countries???? How did the Soviets stand for that?
Poland at least.....
As I'm sure you are aware, Obama hasn't held office for some time!
(Love him or hate him-- he no longer has the power of the presidency). But Trump does . . .
Ya learn something new everyday. Thanks, Fly
Sounds like a good idea. Can we make it permanent?
Why would you want that?
I really want to visit Europe some day
I want to visit Scotland.
I want to go to Wales, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. I have no Eastern European roots but I hear there are some awesome castles along the rivers
Split, Dubrovnik, and Budapest.... all fantastic cities in Eastern Europe. St. Petersburg, Russia is another one to visit. Catherine's Palace, The Hermitage, See those if you can too.
So much to see.... so little time. Travel all you can!
I was thinking Prague in the Czech Republic but definitely Budapest.
There has to be a Nanty Glo somewhere in Wales. Nanty Glo was a small coal mining town to our east and where we do some occasional grocery shopping. But if I can find a town named that in Wales, I'm going!
I \'ve always wondered about that.
Perhaps there are some people who are merely uninformed-- or perhaps there are even a few who prefer totalitarianism over democracy? (I really don't know...)
She didn't say "EU"... she said "Europe". Scotland-- and in fact all of great Britain-- is in the continent of Europe! (If you don't believe it, check a map
There are travel companies that specialize in various tours of Europe-- all by riverboat. The boat makes stops at a few points of especial interest. (Each tour specializes in a different "theme". There is at least one that stops at places which have the most interesting castles)
A friend of mine who travels a lot took one. She said it was one of the best tours she's ever taken. (She said was expensive-- but worth it)
That's the tour I want to take! Riverboat! I wonder if I could do some fishing along the way?
Maybe you should ask an Englishman if he's European.
I have..on numerous occasions.
If they are well informed, they will tell you that in terms of continents, Britain is in the continent of Europe. And in addition, many do not identify as being culturally European.
(Of course by the same token, many people do not feel that they are "part" of the continent that they live in..or in some cases they don't even identify with the country-- for example the Catalans and Basques in Spain...and numerous minorities in much of the Arab world.).
I also wonder how many Israelis identify with they continent they live in (Asia).
And then there's the tricky question of the Turks-- and the Russians. (Who are, I believe, the only two countries who share an unusual trait).
I've never heard of it, and I've never seen it in the attractions listed in their brochures. People who are really into fishing (of any sort) probably could find much better places as these tours mainly travel on rivers that flow through big cities). In addition, most meals are included.
However, I suppose its possible!
I think the whole point here was that it is the EU that is mulling it of which Britain is no longer a member. And that is what the subject of the article is.JMO
He who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it...
(Perhaps some folks here are hoping that Trump's Russian Puppet-masters will be enabled to conquer our democratic European allies if we stab them in the back?)
Nazi Blitzkrieg Conquers Europe:
Look, they're all wearing the MAGA hats of their time. MGGA hats to be precise.
Actually that was Hitler's appeal...he wanted to Make Germany Great Again. (They suffered financially after WWI...)
And interestingly, dirty Donald exhibits many of the same personality traits of which Hitler was also diagnosed.
Narcissistic personality disorder
Dangerous leader disorder
Sadistic personality disorder
Abnormal brain lateralization
Schizotypal personality disorder
Hysteria, histrionic personality disorder
Schizophrenia, paranoia
Psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder
Asperger syndrome
I was going to say that!
Yep. We couldn't keep the Nazi liberal socialists out of the United States. Let's not repeat that mistake.
BTW, the photo was taken in New York, 1937.
And interestingly, dirty Donald exhibits many of the same personality traits of which Hitler was also diagnosed.
Narcissistic personality disorder
Dangerous leader disorder
Sadistic personality disorder
Abnormal brain lateralization
Schizotypal personality disorder
Hysteria, histrionic personality disorder
Schizophrenia, paranoia
Psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder
Asperger syndrome
I can tell you that "Many people are saying" that there's one term that sums up his condition, including all his various bizarre symptoms in just one phrase: its called Trump's Derangement Syndrome.
Believe me its YUGE-- that I can tell you!
All of us on NT should all remember to use that exact phrase as often as possible-- it would make communications here much clearer . . . and would therefore please truth-seekers here, people of all political stripes.
Remember the apostrophe s ('s)-- its: Trump's Derangement Syndrome.
Hitler had a bunker too and look how that ended.
Now Trump is head hunting to find out who leaked that he went into his bunker. Like it is some big secret. It just proves how scared he was that he went there, and that does not fit the picture of bravado he like to promote about himself.
I think you have a rather bizarre definition of liberal!
During that period, the German American Bund-- an organization of nazi sympathizers, and other far-right organizations, great fans of Hiltler, were fairly prevalent in the U.S.
They even had several popular summer camps:
Camp Siegfried , a summer camp which taught Nazi ideology, was located in Yaphank, New York on Long Island . [1] [2] [3] It was owned by the German American Bund , an American Nazi organization devoted to promoting a favorable view of Nazi Germany , and was operated by the German American Settlement League (GASL). Camp Siegfried was one of many such camps in the US in the 1930s, including Camp Hindenberg in Grafton, Wisconsin , [4] Camp Nordland in Andover, New Jersey , [5] [6] Deutschhorst Country Club in Sellersville, Pennsylvania , [7] and a camp in Windham, New York . [8]
They even had several popular summer camps:
And several prominent Americans were Nazi sympathizers-- one of them even received a decoration from Hitler!
Trump Hails “Good Bloodlines” of Henry Ford, Whose Anti-Semitism Inspired Hitler
In 1938, Henry Ford accepted Nazi Germany's highest honor for foreigners, The Grand Cross of the German Eagle, for his service to the Third Reich. The award was presented by two Nazi diplomats in Detroit, along with a personal message from Adolf Hitler. Photo: Associated Press File
( Get Smarter Here )
I don't think so. The Nazi takeover of Germany was as leftist liberal as the French Revolution, the Russian Bolshevik revolt, the Spanish Civil War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba. Do you think Napoleon Bonaparte was a conservative? Do you think Che Guevara was a far-right revolutionary?
Adolf Hitler followed the same path as Maximilien Robespierre, Leon Trotsky, Francisco Franco, Mao Tse Tung, and Fidel Castro.
Throughout history, far-left liberal political movements have been bloody and destructive. Far-left liberals have silenced dissent using harsh measures. And far-left liberals have tried to rewrite history to hide their own past.
'I don't think so. The Nazi takeover of Germany was as leftist liberal as the French Revolution, the Russian Bolshevik revolt, the Spanish Civil War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba. Do you think Napoleon Bonaparte was a conservative? Do you think Che Guevara was a far-right revolutionary?
Adolf Hitler followed the same path as Maximilien Robespierre, Leon Trotsky, Francisco Franco, Mao Tse Tung, and Fidel Castro.
Throughout history, far-left liberal political movements have been bloody and destructive. Far-left liberals have silenced dissent using harsh measures. And far-left liberals have tried to rewrite history to hide their own past.'
This is projection at its' finest.
When you're not dealing in projection, you're dealing in conspiracy theories.
I figured this would happen. I am surprised more countries have not done the same.
Give it time.....
Ah.. Travel bans. When America does it liberals scream racism! stupidity!
When Europe does it? Smart!
Some things are as predictable as the sun coming up.
I know. They think they are being cute i suppose.
It's just more empirical proof of the TDS ridden nature of their existence right now.
Sad!
Link?
You need a link for March?
Sad.
I've noticed you've expressed sadness quite often lately!
Is there anything those of us here can do to get you out of your depression? (I'm sure most people here would love to help you with your problems in any way we can!
)
I'm surprised you can remember that! Good for you!
You forget riots and travel bans but remember what words I post months ago! I'm flattered...
But, if you'd take some advice, I'd stop worrying about me and try and pay more attention to current events. Because It's not depression that makes me sad, it is watching you struggle so much to form coherent arguments. What can I say? I'm a big softie and can't help pitying you.
How is what you said skirting the CoC?
Link?
He who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it...
(Perhaps some folks here are hoping that Trump's Russian Puppet-masters will be enabled to conquer our democratic European allies if we stab them in the back?)
Nazi Blitzkrieg Conquers Europe:
If the Europeans are stupid enough to let that happen again they will get what they deserve.
I will never agree to the US fighting their wars for them.
So after Imperial Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbour-- would you say that we were fighting other people's wars?
How about if we had armed before Pearl harbor, and entered the war earlier?
(By entering the war earlier to defend our allies we could have ended it a lot sooner).
BTW did you know that since the U.S. entered the war s olate, many Americans who strongly opposed Hitler and Hirohito couldn't fight (as the U.S. was neutral)-- so they crossed into Canada as volunteers fighting for the Allied forces? Britain and its allies such as Canada entered the war long before the U.S.)
This will be good for a while
And then what?
reevaluate,
I'm not insulted. It's probably a good idea. It's not as if there is no reason for it.