EU Members Support Each Other During COVID-19 Crisis, Extending Help to Their Neighbors

(L) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen holds a news conference detailing EU efforts to limit economic impact of the CCP disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium April 2, 2020. (Francois Lenoir/Pool/Reuters), (R) European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, holds a virtual news conference at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, on March 31, 2020. Francois Lenoir/Pool/Reuters/File Photo

“Despite a slow start, Europe is now standing tall together,” President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on March 5. She made the statement on Twitter when referring to help that EU member states offer each other where it is needed to curb the pandemic caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

The European Union also extends assistance to non-EU countries, especially African countries that are particularly vulnerable because “the devastating effects of COVID-19 can be amplified by conflicts,” EU’s diplomat-in-chief Josep Borrell said at a virtual presser after the video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers on March 3.

European Solidarity

European retired doctors and nurses returned to work, restaurants deliver food to “exhausted medical staff,” and car manufacturers produce ventilators, von der Leyen said. She also praised Polish doctors who went to Italy to treat Italian patients, Czechia and Austria for sending 10,000 masks to Spain and other countries in need, Germany for admitting Italian patients to their hospitals, and Bulgaria for sending protective equipment to Austria.