European officials reacted with surprise and anger on Thursday after US President Donald Trump imposed a trans-Atlantic travel ban they fear will wound economies already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. Trump closed US arrivals to travellers from the Schengen border-free zone — which does not include Britain and Ireland — in what he said was an “aggressive” effort to contain the spread of the often deadly disease. But European leaders argue that their scientific advice suggests travel restrictions are ineffective when the virus is already present almost worldwide, and lamented that they had not been consulted. “The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent, and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel said. “The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” the presidents of the European Commission and European Council said. “The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus,” they insisted. Earlier, Michel had made it clear that what Brussels fears most is the economic hit from the ban, and he promised that EU experts would meet quickly. “Economic disruption must be avoided,” he said.
