After Austria and the Czech Republic, the turn of France?

The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, confirmed, Sunday February 28 on France Inter, that Berlin had informed Paris of its intention to classify from Monday evening the Moselle in zone at maximum risk because of the Covid- 19.

This measure, which has applied for two weeks in Austrian Tyrol and the Czech Republic, could lead to the closure of the border for the 16,000 French workers who travel to Germany every day if they do not present a negative PCR test of less than 24 hours.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that Moselle, one of the 20 French departments under surveillance, had 60% of cases of the South African variant, more contagious and potentially more resistant to vaccines, a figure that worries as well Paris than Berlin.

Deploring a "unilateral" and "extremely brutal" decision, the president of the Grand Est region, Jean Rottner, expressed the wish that alternative solutions to the PCR test be accepted by Berlin, such as antigenic tests or saliva tests, which do not are not validated for the moment in Germany.

"We do not want to find ourselves in the situation of the Czech Republic and Austria whose borders have been physically closed," said Jean Rottner.

"Mitigate as much as possible" the measures demanded by Berlin

Clément Beaune stressed that discussions were continuing at all levels to avoid such a situation, while President Emmanuel Macron raised the subject with Chancellor Angela Merkel during the week.

"We are in discussion with the German authorities who have just classified the Moselle as a variant circulation zone. This implies a virtual closure of the borders. This is what we want to avoid," said Clément Beaune.

"We are trying to mitigate as much as possible" the measures demanded by Germany, including the PCR test of less than 24 hours, continued the minister, expressing his hope that an agreement will be reached on the acceptance of the antigen test, on the need to carry out a test only every two or three days, as well as on the absence of physical border controls.

These measures would not constitute "preferential treatment" compared to Austria and the Czech Republic, but would be the result of "the greatest possible cooperation" between Paris and Berlin, assured Clément Beaune.

With Reuters

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