Coronavirus: half a million Europeans have been repatriated

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According to Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, 90% of the approximately 550,000 Europeans stranded abroad by the coronavirus pandemic have now been repatriated. The half-million mark is now reached. Even if they are only 10% of the initial figure, the European Union continues to repatriate its nationals, says Josep Borrell in an interview with the German daily Die Welt.

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With our correspondent in Brussels,  Pierre Benazet

"  This is the largest repatriation operation in the history of the EU,  " said Josep Borrell, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, this Saturday, May 2.

The head of European diplomacy believes that it was largely made possible by what he describes as unprecedented consular cooperation between the Union and its 27 member states, confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic. The majority of Europeans brought back from abroad are vacationers or young people who have completed either a school exchange or a volunteering program.

Another 50,000 Europeans stranded abroad

The European External Action Service in Brussels coordinated the European-wide repatriation operation and helped to ensure that European citizens can travel on planes chartered by other Member States than their own.

This has reduced costs and often accelerated returns. 6,000 Europeans were brought back from Nepal and 7,000 from Thailand. In India alone, 9,000 Europeans have already been repatriated on planes chartered from 14 European Union countries.

However, repatriation is made difficult because of strict police controls which make access to airports, such as the Philippines, very difficult. However, the EU wants to continue to mobilize for the 50,000 or so Europeans still stranded abroad by the pandemic.

► Read also: Coronavirus: the DRC repatriates its nationals around the world

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