EU states urged to share sick patients
EU states must take in sick people from Italy and Spain for treatment in a public presentation of uniformity, a group of MEPs has urged.
The EU must “massively” boost help “primary to the most badly impacted [member states] like Italy, Spain, [and] some areas in France” the MEPs stated in a letter to top EU authorities seen by EUobserver.
“Such measures should go beyond financial instruments and should include tangible and visible assistance, like imports of equipment and qualified personnel, hosting sick patients,” the MEPs stated.
The EU likewise required a “communication strategy to highlight such assistance, in order to counter misinformation and to signal to the citizens of the EU that solidarity among them is ongoing,” theyadded
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China and Russia had actually made use of “the initial nationalistic responses by European countries” to hazardous impact in their anti-EU propaganda, the MEPs alerted.
“It is time to mitigate this geopolitical instrumentalisation of the crisis,” they stated.
The 39 MEPs originated from the main centrist groups in the European Parliament and from the 4 corners of Europe.
They spoke up as numerous people a day were passing away in the coronavirus pandemic, frustrating national health services.
The EU has actually had a hard time to coordinate medical help.
And in a role turnaround to past times, China and Russia have actually sent out humanitarian help to Europe.
However at the exact same time, their state-controlled media and social media were doing a hatchet task on the EU’s reputation, the MEPs alerted.
They were attempting “to undermine the EU and sow mistrust among the local population,” the MEPs stated.
And the details warfare might “seriously … impede us from conquering the [health] crisis,” they stated.
The MEPs composed last Friday (27 March) to EU Council president Charles Michel, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.
EU leaders concurred last Thursday “to pursue” joint procurement of medical products.
They likewise chose to”resolutely counter disinformation with transparent, timely and fact-based communication on what we are doing”
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The EU foreign service was “tasked by European leaders at last week’s virtual European Council to intensify work in this regard, that is already ongoing,” an EU representative informed EUobserver.
The EU commission had actually released a brand-new website on its coronavirus reaction and a second one on myth-busting, headded
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All that fell brief of the MEPs’ more extreme concepts.
And offered the “nationalistic responses” by some European countries, it appeared not likely EU states would concur to share sick patients.
However unless Europe stepped up the compound of its response along with “intensifying” interactions, it ran the risk of sounding hollow, an EU source stated.
“The EU’s failure to mobilise a humanitarian response in the first few weeks of the crisis was a grave mistake,” the source stated.
“We’re seeing a consolidation of disinformation narratives decrying the EU’s incompetence and callousness while praising China and Russia for their ‘selfless sacrifice’ to help Europe,” they added.
“These messages are gaining traction … not least because there’s a significant grain of truth,” the EU source stated.
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