Germany Tells EU Its Border Curbs Will Stay

Faizan Hashmi Published March 03, 2021 | 04:21 PM

Germany has told the EU it is keeping border curbs with neighbouring countries despite the European Commission warning they could undermine freedom of movement within the bloc

Brussels (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2021 ) :Germany has told the EU it is keeping border curbs with neighbouring countries despite the European Commission warning they could undermine freedom of movement within the bloc.

Germany faces an "acute risk situation" because of high Covid-19 infection numbers in its neighbours, its ambassador to the European Union, Michael Clauss, wrote in a letter dated Monday and seen by AFP on Wednesday.

That was in reply to a letter the commission sent last week warning Germany and five other EU member states -- Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and Sweden -- over border restrictions deemed excessive.

Germany was criticised for deviating from a set of EU recommendations on appropriate travel restrictions to fight the spread of pandemic.

Berlin imposed strict filtering of traffic from Austria's Tyrol region and from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The commission letter noted that infection rates in the Czech Republic and Slovakia were no worse than in some other EU countries, and said German authorities were not accepting Covid-19 test results issued in the Czech and Slovak languages.

The German reply insisted that the restrictions met the EU standards of being non-discriminatory and proportional to the threat, given "the specific situation of the border regions".